May 25, 2018 8-10PM

Event Type: Lecture and Stargazing
Title: The Grand Tour: Exploring Planets Outside the Solar System
Lecturer: Heather Knutsen
Position: Professor
Institution: Caltech
Abstract:
The past decade has marked a period of great progress in our quest to discover and characterize the properties of the planets outside of our own solar system. Observations of eclipsing systems, in which the planet periodically passes in front of and then behind its star as seen from the earth, have given us new insight into the nature of these alien worlds. In her talk, Dr. Knutson will discuss ongoing efforts to investigate the diverse properties of exoplanetary systems using a combination of both ground- and space-based telescopes.