Colloquium by Sarah Blunt, UC Santa Cruz
Exoplanet demographics are often presented in two dimensions: planet mass vs orbital separation. However, there are many other “axes” we can use to explore exoplanet diversity and test planet formation models. In this talk, I will give a tour of my efforts to improve our understanding of exoplanets across new demographic axes. First, I will focus on expanding the exoplanet census to younger planets. Because planets “forget” their initial conditions as they age, the youngest planets have the power to shape our understanding of their formation conditions. I will discuss my work on understanding and mitigating stellar noise, which currently limits our ability to find and characterize planets orbiting young stars. Next, I will discuss my work on the orbits of giant planets. Exoplanet orbits, particularly their eccentricities and obliquities, are “fossil records” of their dynamical histories. I will present my work understanding the orbits of planets in data-starved regimes, particularly the orbits of planets very far from their host stars. Finally, I will discuss near- and far-future data that will dramatically expand our understanding of exoplanets across axes of age, orbital characteristics, and more: the upcoming Gaia data release 4, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory.
Cookies will be available, starting at 3:45.
Host: Jane Huang