Ohio State nav bar

Astronomy Colloquium

OSU Astronomy Colloquium (Image Source: NASA)
February 22, 2018
2:30PM - 3:30PM
1080 Physics Research Building

Date Range
Add to Calendar 2018-02-22 14:30:00 2018-02-22 15:30:00 Astronomy Colloquium Probing Space and Time in Exoplanet AtmospheresNikole Lewis - Space Telescope Science Institute The bulk of exoplanet science to date has focused on planet detection with large-scale ground-based surveys and space-based facilities such as the Kepler Space Telescope. The past decade, however, has seen steady growth in observational and theoretical efforts aimed at understanding global chemical, radiative, and dynamical processes shaping exoplanet atmospheres. Here I will describe my recent efforts to provide robust constraints on giant exoplanet atmospheric properties through a mixture of observational and theoretical efforts that leverage my expertise as a planetary scientist and astronomer. Such constraints are critical for refining our theories of planetary atmosphere formation and evolution. I will highlight recent results from our large-scale exoplanet comparative studies with the Hubble Space Telescope (600+ orbits) that are challenging our theories about planetary atmospheric chemistry. Additionally, I will highlight my recent efforts to probe radiative and dynamical processes in exoplanet atmospheres using both three-dimensional atmospheric models and observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope (1000+ hours). These studies are establishing a solid foundation on which to build future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope and refining the observational and theoretical techniques that will be leveraged in pursuit of answering the questions “How did we get here?” and “Are we alone?”.   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

Probing Space and Time in Exoplanet Atmospheres

Nikole Lewis - Space Telescope Science Institute 

The bulk of exoplanet science to date has focused on planet detection with large-scale ground-based surveys and space-based facilities such as the Kepler Space Telescope. The past decade, however, has seen steady growth in observational and theoretical efforts aimed at understanding global chemical, radiative, and dynamical processes shaping exoplanet atmospheres. Here I will describe my recent efforts to provide robust constraints on giant exoplanet atmospheric properties through a mixture of observational and theoretical efforts that leverage my expertise as a planetary scientist and astronomer. Such constraints are critical for refining our theories of planetary atmosphere formation and evolution. I will highlight recent results from our large-scale exoplanet comparative studies with the Hubble Space Telescope (600+ orbits) that are challenging our theories about planetary atmospheric chemistry. Additionally, I will highlight my recent efforts to probe radiative and dynamical processes in exoplanet atmospheres using both three-dimensional atmospheric models and observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope (1000+ hours). These studies are establishing a solid foundation on which to build future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope and refining the observational and theoretical techniques that will be leveraged in pursuit of answering the questions “How did we get here?” and “Are we alone?”.   

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