Exoplanets: Under a Microscope, and Through a Wide-field Lens - Sarah Ba
Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 27 Ιουλ 2016
The
Solar System furnishes the most familiar planetary architecture: many
planets, orbiting nearly coplanar to one another. We can examine the
composition and atmospheres of the Solar System planets in detail, even
occasionally in situ. Studies of planets orbiting other stars
(exoplanets), in contrast, only begin to approach the precision of
humanity's knowledge of Earth five hundred years ago. I will describe a
two-pronged approach to the study of exoplanets. One approach involves
time-intensive investigations of individual planets to eke out bulk
density or single molecules in the planetary atmosphere. Another
involves studies of the ensemble properties of planetary systems, and
addresses the question of a "typical" planetary system in the Milky Way.
In an era with thousands of exoplanet discoveries in hand and thousands
more to follow in short order, a judicious combination of these
approaches is emerging. I'll showcase some of my own detailed findings
of other worlds (placing Earth in context), in addition to wider-field
studies of typical planet occurrence and formation. I'll close with an
opportunity, using an existing data set, to make inroads into the
singular question driving much of exoplanetary science: the
detectability of signatures of life.
Solar System furnishes the most familiar planetary architecture: many
planets, orbiting nearly coplanar to one another. We can examine the
composition and atmospheres of the Solar System planets in detail, even
occasionally in situ. Studies of planets orbiting other stars
(exoplanets), in contrast, only begin to approach the precision of
humanity's knowledge of Earth five hundred years ago. I will describe a
two-pronged approach to the study of exoplanets. One approach involves
time-intensive investigations of individual planets to eke out bulk
density or single molecules in the planetary atmosphere. Another
involves studies of the ensemble properties of planetary systems, and
addresses the question of a "typical" planetary system in the Milky Way.
In an era with thousands of exoplanet discoveries in hand and thousands
more to follow in short order, a judicious combination of these
approaches is emerging. I'll showcase some of my own detailed findings
of other worlds (placing Earth in context), in addition to wider-field
studies of typical planet occurrence and formation. I'll close with an
opportunity, using an existing data set, to make inroads into the
singular question driving much of exoplanetary science: the
detectability of signatures of life.
Κατηγορία
Άδεια
- Τυπική άδεια YouTube
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου