Characterizing the Most Common Type of Planet in the Milky Way (that is not found around the Sun)

The last decade of exoplanet exploration revealed a population of 1-3 Earth radius planets, which we now know are the most common outcome of planet formation (within 100 day orbital periods) in the Galaxy. And yet puzzlingly, we are missing this type of planet in our own Solar System, so we have no local analogue or reference point. Does this group of planets represent a new taxonomic class, that have different compositions and/or formation pathways than both our terrestrials and ice giants? Or, are they more like a new taxonomic order of planets, with related formation pathways and structures that are just scaled up or down from Earth and Neptune? In this talk I will discuss how we as a community are addressing these questions through theory, observations, and experiments in astronomy and geochemistry. I will highlight how this new population presents an opportunity to study the interiors of small exoplanets by observing their atmospheres, and how we can use planets slightly larger than the Earth to learn more about, and perhaps expand our definition of, habitable conditions.

Speaker: Johanna Teske (Carnegie Earth and Planets Lab)

Talks are held in the STScI John N. Bahcall Auditorium. Light lunch (provided) starts at 12pm; talk starts at 12:30pm.

This is an internal lecture and will not be streamed publicly.

STScI is located in the Muller Building on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus. View a JHU map and directions.