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SUMMARY:Transiting Exoplanets: from SuperWASP to Space Telescopes - Carole
  Haswell (Open University)
DTSTART:20080602T150000Z
DTEND:20080602T160000Z
UID:TALK11331@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr. Zoe M. Leinhardt
DESCRIPTION:Since 1995 the study of planets around stars other than the su
 n has been one of the most exciting and fastest-growing fields in astrophy
 sics. We now know of about 300 such exoplanets. The subset of exoplanets w
 hich happen to have their orbits aligned so they pass directly between us 
 and the host star\, i.e. those which "transit" their host star are particu
 larly interesting. Only for these transiting exoplanets  can we measure th
 e radius\, and thus deduce the density of the planet.  Furthermore\, the t
 ransits offer the opportunity to make direct detections of atomic and mole
 cular species in the exoplanet atmosphere via transmission spectroscopy.  
 We can also measure otherwise inaccessible properties of the host star\, s
 uch as the alignment of its spin. Finally\, we  can detect the tiny drop i
 n the infrared flux when the planet passes behind the star. I will introdu
 ce this field\, and show some of the recent observational results\, placin
 g them in the context of the models for exoplanet structure and evolution.
  
LOCATION:MR14\, DAMTP\, Pav. F
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