Scientific Colloquium
December 10, 2010
DAVID
CHARBONNEAU
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
"The Fast Track to
Finding an Inhabited Exoplanet"
When exoplanets pass in front of
their stars, we can estimate their
densities and we can undertake studies of their atmospheres. Such
systems
have profoundly impacted our understanding of giant exoplanets akin to
Jupiter or Neptune, but the study of smaller, rockier, and potentially
life-bearing exoplanets has only just begun. By targeting nearby small
stars, humble ground-based telescopes could discover super-Earths with
temperatures appropriate for liquid water. By differencing spectra
gathered when the planet is in view from those when it is occulted by
the
star, we could study the atmospheres of these worlds to search for the
molecular fingerprints of life on the surface below.