Center for Astrophysics Research and Technologies Seminar Series
Exploring the Properties and Demographics of Warm Gas Giant Systems
Presented by Ismael Mireles (UNM)
There are now over 5200 confirmed exoplanets, but many questions remain regarding how planets form and evolve. Over 2000 of these planets are part of multi-planet systems, yet no system discovered so far resembles our own Solar System. Nonetheless, multi-planet systems are essential to probe planet formation and evolution. In particular, systems with warm gas giant planets are promising as they bridge the gap between the well-studied hot gas giant population and the cold gas giants in our solar system. While over 100 warm gas giants have been detected, over half were detected by Kepler and thus too faint for further characterization. However, the launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has led to the discovery of more warm gas giants, specifically ones around bright stars that are prime candidates for follow-up observations to characterize their masses, orbits, and atmospheres as well as to search for additional companions. I summarize the work I have done with single-transit planet candidates to detect more warm gas giants in order to increase the sample for mass, orbit, and atmospheric characterization. Furthermore, I present the future work to characterize these systems and study their demographics as well as to detect new companions to them that, together, will improve our understanding on planet formation and evolution. I also detail three specific multi-planet systems I have worked on - TOI-4600, TOI-1670, and TOI-201 - and highlight their potential for future observations.
2:00 pm, Thursday, December 1, 2022
PAIS-3205, PAIS
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