$1,000,000

Exoplanets
Nancy Thomas
Extrasolar Planets
Extrasolar planets (or
exoplanets) are planets
outside of our solar
system
The discovery of
exoplanets tells us more
about planetary systems
including where life could
possibly be sustained
Exoplanets have recently
become a more important
focus in astronomy as
technology is changing
What are they worth?












Stellar age and mass
Exoplanet mass
Temperature
Stellar brightness
Source: oklo.org
Detection Techniques
Selection bias towards larger exoplanets
with smaller orbits
Methods of detection
Radial velocity: variations in the radial
velocity of the star with respect to the Earth
through the Doppler eect
Microlensing: an exoplanet and a stars
gravitational eld magnies the light of a
background star
Transit
Transits
Detecting exoplanets when they transit directly in
front of a star
Change in brightness of the star over time
Dicult to observe
Llnk: hup://www.asLro.calLech.edu/palomar/lmages/blog/Lrans_anl.glf

Kepler
Kepler spacecraft was
launched on March 6,
2009 into a heliocentric,
Earth-trailing orbit
1.4 m (55 in) primary
mirror
Life cycle cost of about
$600 million
Observes more than
100,000 stars
simultaneously (mostly
distributed 600 to 3,000
light years away)
http://kepler.nasa.gov/multimedia/artwork/?ImageID=24
Kepler Field of View
Discoveries (to date)
77 conrmed
exoplanets
2321 planet
candidates
2165 eclipsing
binary systems
Kepler Mission Planet Candidates
Keplers Discoveries
Kepler Planet Candidates
Kepler-11
Image credit: NASA/Tim Pyle
Kepler-11
Image credit: NASA/Tim Pyle
Kepler-16
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle
Kepler-16
Credit: NASA.
Kepler-16
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt
Kepler-16
Tatooine
Kepler-22
Kepler-36
This image, adapted by Eric Agol of the UW, depicts the view one might have of a rising Kepler-36c
(represented by a NASA image of Neptune) if Seattle (shown in a skyline photograph by Frank Melchior,
frankacaba.com) were placed on the surface of Kepler-36b.
Kepler-36
Kepler-36
Originally published in Science Express on 21 June 2012
Kepler-47
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle
Kepler-47
Kepler-47 system diagram. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle
Transit Properties
Impact Parameter
impacts depth,
duration and shape
Radius Ratio impacts
the depth
Limb Darkening
impacts shape
Period of transit
impacts ingress and
egress
Habitability
Future Work
Work on detecting light directly from nearby
planets - enough to obtain a spectrum that
would tell us what type of atmosphere the
planet has, which would give clues as to
whether or not the planet actually has life
The future Space Interferometry Mission
(SIM) and the James Webb Space Telescope
(JWST) could give us this information
Get involved
www.planethunters.org
Questions?
http://xkcd.com/1071/
Questions?