Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Joint Astrophysics Seminar

The Era of Comparative Exoplanetology

David Charbonneau

Harvard (CfA)

When extrasolar planets are observed to transit their parent stars, we are granted unprecedented access to their physical properties. It is only for these systems that we are permitted direct estimates of the planetary masses and radii, which in turn provide fundamental constraints on models of their physical structure. Furthermore, such planets afford the opportunity to study their atmospheres without the need to spatially isolate the light from the planet from that of the star. Recently, astronomers have taken a first glimpse into the atmospheric chemistry and dynamics of these puzzling worlds. I will review the most recent results, and look ahead to how the same techniques may permit a study of the atmospheres of terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of low-mass stars.