[Baps] Transiting planets talk Monday Nov 20

[Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay]

http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/ssp/today.shtml

CfA SSP Division Seminar
DATE: MONDAY, November 20
TIME: 11:30
ROOM: Pratt
SPEAKER:  Frederic Pont (Geneva Obs.)

"Transiting Extra-solar Planets: Towards Exo-planetology"

Abstract

It is now "Year 11" for extrasolar planet studies, and the frantic
pace of progress shows no sign of slowing down.  Recent landmarks
since the last Cool Star meeting include the detection of planets of a
few Earth masses by radial velocity and microlensing surveys, and the
characterization of several transiting hot gas giants.  Transiting
planets have served as the Rosetta Stone to connect the abstract
language of exoplanet orbits to the detailed knowledge of solar system
planets, providing an empirical foundation to the nascent field of
"exo-planetology".  Precise masses and radii are known for more than a
dozen transiting gas giants, some discovered by wide-field photometric
monitoring, others by radial velocity surveys.  For the brightest of
these, infrared emission from the planet itself could be detected at
several wavelengths with the Spitzer Space Telescope.  The Corot
satellite, scheduled for launch shortly after CS14, is expected to
discover dozens of transiting planets, possibly including ice giants
and rock giants.
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