The Department of Astronomy 2023-2024 Colloquium Series Presents:
Dr. Shreyas Vissapragada, 51 Pegasi b Fellow, Harvard University & The Smithsonian
"Atmospheric Evolution in Extrasolar Planets: From Jupiters to Earths"
Atmospheric escape has driven the long-term evolution of most known planetary atmospheres, including terrestrial planet atmospheres in our Solar System. In this talk, I will discuss the wealth of information we can learn from studying atmospheric escape in extrasolar planets. I will first discuss new frontiers in the characterization of hot Jupiter outflows: their three-dimensional morphologies are a remarkable new probe of star-planet interactions, and they also offer an unanticipated way to study planetary isotopic compositions. Next, I will introduce the idea that the hottest Neptune-sized planets are “hot Jupiters gone wrong:” multiple lines of evidence suggest that these are the exposed high-metallicity cores of gas giants that suffered catastrophic atmospheric loss. Finally, I will discuss my efforts to extend atmospheric escape observations to Earth-sized exoplanets. Using observations from space telescopes and future ground-based facilities including the Extremely Large Telescope, we will soon be able to contextualize the divergent evolutionary pathways of terrestrial planets in our own system.
Atmospheric escape has driven the long-term evolution of most known planetary atmospheres, including terrestrial planet atmospheres in our Solar System. In this talk, I will discuss the wealth of information we can learn from studying atmospheric escape in extrasolar planets. I will first discuss new frontiers in the characterization of hot Jupiter outflows: their three-dimensional morphologies are a remarkable new probe of star-planet interactions, and they also offer an unanticipated way to study planetary isotopic compositions. Next, I will introduce the idea that the hottest Neptune-sized planets are “hot Jupiters gone wrong:” multiple lines of evidence suggest that these are the exposed high-metallicity cores of gas giants that suffered catastrophic atmospheric loss. Finally, I will discuss my efforts to extend atmospheric escape observations to Earth-sized exoplanets. Using observations from space telescopes and future ground-based facilities including the Extremely Large Telescope, we will soon be able to contextualize the divergent evolutionary pathways of terrestrial planets in our own system.
Building: | West Hall |
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Website: | |
Event Type: | Lecture / Discussion |
Tags: | astronomy, astrophysics |
Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Department of Astronomy, Michigan Institute for Research in Astrophysics |