Exoplanets & Habitability Seminar, May 11th, 2023 at 10:30h

Given current technologies, detecting life on exoplanets as small as Earth will only be possible for exoplanets transiting stars much smaller than the Sun: very late M-dwarfs.
By using transmission spectroscopy – which consists in measuring the wavelength-dependent radius of a planet as it transits its star – one can access the composition of its atmosphere, and search for signatures indicative of life-like processes. But interpreting such measurements holds a major challenge: the effect of stellar contamination. Indeed, transmission spectra contain the signatures of stars non-uniform surface, such as starspots, able to mimic or hide planetary signals. From the observation of very-late M-dwarfs, detection of planets around them, to the characterisation of the surface of these cool stars, this talk gives an overview of the ongoing effort to unlock the study of rocky exoplanets atmospheres outside of our solar system.

Time: Thursday 11th of May, 10:30 to 11:00 am (Zurich time)

Room: COPL common room HIT F23.2

Zoom Link: external pagehttps://ethz.zoom.us/j/64404739154call_made

Host: Peter Pedersen