Date/Time
Date(s) - 30/11/2011
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Title: The Fast Track to Finding an Inhabited Exoplanet

Speaker: Dr. David Charbonneau – Harvard University

Institute: Harvard University & Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Location: ABB 102

Description:

When exoplanets pass in front of their stars, we can estimate their densities and undertake studies of their atmospheres. Such systems have profoundly impacted our understanding of giant exoplanets akin to Jupiter or Neptune, but the study of smaller, rockier, and potentially life-bearing exoplanets has only just begun. By targeting nearby small stars, humble ground-based telescopes could discover super-Earths with temperatures appropriate for liquid water. By differencing spectra
gathered when the planet is in view from those when it is occulted by the star, we could study the atmospheres of these worlds to search for the molecular fingerprints of life on the surface below.