Extra-solar Planets and Planetary Science
Extrasolar planets are planets found outside our solar system. These planets are much fainter than the stars they orbit, and while they had widely been expected to exist, it has only been in the past quarter century that they have been observed. In the last decade the number of exoplanets discovered has increased dramatically with new techniques and there are now more than 4,000 exoplanets confirmed.
At Steward our exoplanet and planetary science projects explore the frequency and properties of the planet population around other stars. We are developing and using high-contrast imaging techniques to discover and study new exoplanets and we are using exoplanetary transits for detailed atmospheric composition studies. We carry out observations of our own solar system, including surveys to understand the demographics of asteroids and other faint solar system objects.
Faculty and Research Staff with a research interest in this area include:
- Roger Angel - Detection methods
- Daniel Apai - Habitability of Exoplanets
- Ed Beshore - Solar System
- Bob Brown - Solar System
- Laird Close - Exoplanet search and characterization, AO instrumentation
- Josh Eisner - Exoplanet search and characterization, near-IR interferometry
- Olivier Guyon - choronography, AO
- Michael Hart - AO
- Philip Hinz - Exoplanet search and characterization, near-IR interferometry
- Kaitlin Kratter - Planet formation, Planetary dynamics
- Bob McMillan - Solar System
- Glenn Schneider - Exoplanet search and characterization, chorongraphy, EXCEED
- Mark Sykes - Solar System Exploration, Pluto
- Neville Woolf - Habitability of Exoplanets
- Andrew Youdin - Planet Formation, Hydrodynamics and Turbulence
"The exoplanet HD131399Ab (Scorpion-1) was discovered in 2016 using an extreme adaptive optics system by a team lead by Steward graduate student Kevin Wagner and assistant professor Daniel Apai. Scorpion-1 orbits in a three-star system.
Links: Science article (http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/353/6300/673.full.pdf), UA News (https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/newly-discovered-planet-has-three-suns) and ESO Press Release (https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1624/)."
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