When
3:30 p.m., Nov. 9, 2010
Where
Kuiper Space Sciences 308
Heather Knutson (Miller Fellow, UC Berkley Dept. of Astronomy) is the scheduled speaker. Host: Adam Showman.
The past decade has marked a period of great progress in our quest to
discover and characterize the properties of the planets outside of our
own solar system. Observations of transiting systems, in which the
planet periodically passes in front of and then behind its star as
seen from the earth, have given us new insight into the nature of
these unusual worlds. I will discuss ongoing efforts to understand
the diverse properties of exoplanet atmospheres, including their
compositions, temperature profiles, and global circulation patterns.
Open questions in this area include: why do some close-in planets have
dayside stratospheres, while others do not? What role does
photochemistry play in these atmospheres? How is energy transported
from the day to the night side on tidally-locked planets? Is time
variability important in these atmospheres? I will show how we are
addressing these problems using large ongoing surveys with the Spitzer
Space Telescope, and discuss prospects for characterizing the
atmospheres of smaller and more earth-like planets with current and
upcoming facilities such as the James Webb Space Telescope.
The past decade has marked a period of great progress in our quest to
discover and characterize the properties of the planets outside of our
own solar system. Observations of transiting systems, in which the
planet periodically passes in front of and then behind its star as
seen from the earth, have given us new insight into the nature of
these unusual worlds. I will discuss ongoing efforts to understand
the diverse properties of exoplanet atmospheres, including their
compositions, temperature profiles, and global circulation patterns.
Open questions in this area include: why do some close-in planets have
dayside stratospheres, while others do not? What role does
photochemistry play in these atmospheres? How is energy transported
from the day to the night side on tidally-locked planets? Is time
variability important in these atmospheres? I will show how we are
addressing these problems using large ongoing surveys with the Spitzer
Space Telescope, and discuss prospects for characterizing the
atmospheres of smaller and more earth-like planets with current and
upcoming facilities such as the James Webb Space Telescope.
General
LPL Colloquium
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