Physical Society Colloquium

Terrestrial Worlds Outside the Solar System

Heather Knutson

Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
Caltech

We currently know of more than 10,000 planets and planet candidates orbiting nearby stars.  Most of these extrasolar planets look quite different than the planets in the solar system, including Jupiter-like gas giants on close-in orbits, 'mini-Neptunes' with puffy hydrogen-rich atmospheres, and rocky 'super-Earths' with masses many times that of Earth or Venus.   Rocky exoplanets are some of the most challenging planets to detect and characterize, and the properties of this population are only now beginning to come into focus.  In my talk I will provide an overview of some of my group’s ongoing work to confirm new Earth-sized exoplanet candidates, and to characterize the properties of rocky exoplanets using both ground- and space-based telescopes.