hot jupiters

What are the properties of the 400+ exoplanets we have discovered so far? This lecture reviews the properties of exoplanets, and finds a couple of surprises: Jupiter-mass planets orbiting close to their parent stars, and Jupiter-mass planets in very elliptical orbits. Both seem to require some mechanism for migration: strong gravitational interactions with either the protoplanetary disk or other giant planets to cause the planets to move inward from their birth places beyond the "Ice Line". We will then briefly discuss why we are seeing systems very different from our own, mostly we think a selection effect due to our search methods to date. Microlensing, however, is more sensitive to systems like ours, and is starting to find them. Earths, however, remain elusive so far, but the hunt is on. Recorded live on 2009 Nov 18 in Room 1005 Smith Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

Are there planets around other stars? Are there Earth-like planets around other stars? Do any of those harbor life? Intelligent life? We'd like to know the answers to all of these questions, and in recent years we've made great progress towards at least answering the first. To date, more than 260 planets have been found around more than 200 other stars, most in the interstellar neighborhood of the Sun, but a few at great distance. This lecture reviews the search for ExoPlanets, discussing the successful Radial Velocity, Transit, and Microlensing techniques. What we have found so far are very suprising systems, especially Jupiter-size or bigger planets orbiting very close (few hundredths of an AU) from their parent stars. Recorded 2007 Nov 29 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

Are there planets around other stars? Are there Earth-like planets around other stars? Do any of those harbor life? Intelligent life? We'd like to know the answers to all of these questions, and in recent years we've made great progress towards at least answering the first. To date, more than 200 planets have been found around other stars, most in the interstellar neighborhood of the Sun, but a few at great distance. This lecture reviews the search for ExoPlanets, discussing the successful Doppler Wobble, Transit, and Microlensing techniques. What we have found so far are very suprising systems, especially Jupiter-size or bigger planets orbiting very close (few hundredths of an AU) from their parent stars. The existance of a significant population of so-called "Hot Jupiters" may be telling us that planetary migration can be much more extreme that we saw in our own Solar System, or that these planetary system formed in a very different way than ours. It seems appropriate to end this class with more questions than answers, but that's where the science becomes most exciting. Recorded 2006 Dec 1 in 100 Stillman Hall on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.