Ohio State nav bar

Astronomy Colloquium

Artist's rendering of a hot jupiter with a putative satellite
February 1, 2018
2:30PM - 3:30PM
1080 Physics Research Building

Date Range
Add to Calendar 2018-02-01 14:30:00 2018-02-01 15:30:00 Astronomy Colloquium Exoplanets Across Space and TimeAndrew Mann - Columbia UniversityOur understanding of exoplanets has changed dramatically in recent years, thanks largely to the abundance of exoplanets discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission. K2 has built on this legacy by enabling the identification of infant and adolescent planets in nearby young clusters and star forming regions. The discovery of these young planets has opened up a new field of observational exoplanet evolution. Our ultimate aim is to provide direct constraints into how the dynamic, atmospheric, and fundamental properties of exoplanets change over time, and to explain trends in the mature planet population uncovered by earlier surveys. Upcoming space missions offer new opportunities to answer deeper questions about these critical early stages in a planet’s life. In particular, TESS, Gaia, and JWST space telescopes will help discover and characterize young planets across parameter space and facilitate detailed study of individual exoplanet atmospheres during their formation. This will culminate with NASA’s next generation of Flagship missions (LUVOIR or HabEx) and upcoming 30m-class telescopes, which will probe the analogues of a young Earth, placing the history of our own planet and atmosphere in a Galactic context. In this talk I will review both recent discoveries and new directions for research into exoplanet evolution, as well as the unique role OSU researchers and facilities can play in the coming years.   Coffee and Donuts will be served at 2:00pm in 4054 McPherson Laboratory. 1080 Physics Research Building Department of Astronomy astronomy@osu.edu America/New_York public

Exoplanets Across Space and Time

Andrew Mann - Columbia University

Our understanding of exoplanets has changed dramatically in recent years, thanks largely to the abundance of exoplanets discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission. K2 has built on this legacy by enabling the identification of infant and adolescent planets in nearby young clusters and star forming regions. The discovery of these young planets has opened up a new field of observational exoplanet evolution. Our ultimate aim is to provide direct constraints into how the dynamic, atmospheric, and fundamental properties of exoplanets change over time, and to explain trends in the mature planet population uncovered by earlier surveys. Upcoming space missions offer new opportunities to answer deeper questions about these critical early stages in a planet’s life. In particular, TESS, Gaia, and JWST space telescopes will help discover and characterize young planets across parameter space and facilitate detailed study of individual exoplanet atmospheres during their formation. This will culminate with NASA’s next generation of Flagship missions (LUVOIR or HabEx) and upcoming 30m-class telescopes, which will probe the analogues of a young Earth, placing the history of our own planet and atmosphere in a Galactic context. In this talk I will review both recent discoveries and new directions for research into exoplanet evolution, as well as the unique role OSU researchers and facilities can play in the coming years.   

Coffee and Donuts will be served at 2:00pm in 4054 McPherson Laboratory.