Lisa Dang (McGill University): "Characterizing Evolving Exoplanets and Atmosphere with the Spitzer Space Telescope and Beyond"

Title: Characterizing Evolving Exoplanets and Atmosphere with the Spitzer Space Telescope and Beyond

Abstract: More than two decades after their discoveries, Hot Jupiters are still puzzling objects. Given their short orbits, they are some of the best-characterized exoplanets to this day. Yet there is still no consensus on their origin and migration, while their atmospheric processes remain poorly understood. Nonetheless, we can get observational insights into gas giants and their atmosphere at various stages of their evolution. Decommissioned just over a year ago, the Spitzer Space Telescope provided extremely valuable observations of thermal emission of close-in exoplanets and later served as a microlens parallax satellite to study exoplanets beyond the snow line. In this seminar, I will talk about what we have learned from phase curve observations of close-in planets, including seasons on eccentric hot Jupiters caught in the act of migrating into short-period orbits, circulation patterns on synchronously-rotating hot Jupiters, and lastly, the fate of short-period planets as well as how it ties into the Spitzer Microlensing Campaign. Finally, I will then discuss the continuation of Spitzer’s legacy with next-generation instruments.