[Baps] Bakos talk: Tue 1:30 CfA Transiting Exoplanets

[Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay]

*Special Planetary Seminar
Gaspar Bakos
*
Transiting Exoplanets with HATNet

 *Tues April 10 1:30 pm
*CfA. Phillips Auditorium.

*Abstract:* The past decade revolutionized our view of planetary systems via
their detection around stars other than our Sun. There is an increasing
excitement thanks to the continuous flow of discoveries, such as hot
Jupiters orbiting close to their host star, resonant orbits of multiple
planets, or highly eccentric massive planets. Especially important is the
small ensemble (14) of planets that transit their central star, since the
transit (or occultation) reveals a wealth of information: the planet's
density, atmosphere, temperature, or perturbing companions. These
quantities, in turn, are crucial for constraining theories of planetary
formation and structure. Many interesting discoveries that will further
improve our knowledge are on their way. The HAT Network of small telescopes
is a major contributor to the field. I will briefly summarize its main
properties, as well as the discovery of a puffed up planet "HAT-P-1b". I
will highlight recent exciting results, such as a super-massive transiting
planet, and a handful of strong candidates that will significantly impact
the present census of transiting planets. Finally, I will hint on our future
plans of HAT-South, a network with round-the-clock coverage and sensitivity
to long period transits.
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