Seminar by Caleb Lammers, Princeton
The study of long-period giant exoplanets is approaching a renaissance. The next Gaia data release (scheduled for December 2026) will, for the first time, provide extensive time-series astrometry with a precision sufficient to detect giant planets. I will present new predictions for Gaia's exoplanet yield, based on updated models for giant-planet occurrence, the local stellar population, and Gaia’s astrometric precision. The 5-year data release should deliver thousands of super-Jupiters on multi-AU orbits, providing new insights into the formation and dynamical evolution of cold giants. I'll also present predictions for the population of false positives due to unresolved binary stars and describe mock catalogs intended to support community preparation for the upcoming data releases.
Host: David Kipping