Marta Bryan (Caltech/GPS)

Lurking in the Shadows: Long Period Gas Giant Planets as Tracers of Planet Formation // Over the past decade surveys using a variety of techniques have uncovered a diverse array of exoplanet systems. Many of these new systems are difficult to explain within the framework of standard planet formation theories, and have forced theorists and observers alike to re-evaluate their narratives for planet formation and migration. For example, direct imaging surveys have discovered a growing population of extremely young, planetary-mass companions at separations of > 100 AU, which pose significant challenges to in-situ formation models. The rotation rates of these young giant planets provide a unique window into the late stages of accretion, and can provide clues to past formation histories as well as present-day properties such as planetary atmospheric composition or the presence of moons and rings. In this talk I will discuss my work using radial velocity, direct imaging, and high-resolution spectroscopy techniques to study long period gas giant planets as tracers of formation and migration histories of planetary systems.