IGPP is pleased to invite you to join its Fall 2021 Virtual Seminar Series presentation featuring UC San Diego's Adam Burgasser. Dr. Burgasser's talk, "Searching for Potentially Habitable Terrestrial Worlds Orbiting the Coldest Stars" will be available BOTH in person in the Munk Laboratory Conference Room and via Zoom on Tuesday, October 12, 2021, starting at 12:00pm. Zoom: https://ucsd.zoom.us/j/96284119426?pwd=VTlNSi9lbzhpWWl3UEFqeGVLSWR2QT09. Password: planet.
Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Time: 12:00 pm, Pacific Time
Location: Munk Conference Room at IGPP and Zoom
Note: This meeting will be recorded. Please make sure that you are comfortable with this before registering.
Abstract: The first planets beyond our Solar System were identified roughly 30 years ago. Since then, well over 4,000 worlds have been discovered, primary through the radial velocity and transit methods, that span sizes and masses from sub-Mercury to super-Jupiter. One of the insights that have emerged from this work is the prevalence of terrestrial worlds - including potentially habitable worlds - orbiting the lowest mass and coolest stars. Yet low-mass stars, which vastly outnumber all other classes of stars in the Milky Way, are among the least understood and poorly constrained, with important implications for understanding the viability of life on orbiting planets. In this talk, I discuss how astronomers have come to recognize the importance of low-mass stars in searches of potentially habitable worlds, how these stars' distinct properties impact exoplanet habitability, and how the imminent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will greatly expand our ability to qualify and quantify habitability beyond our Solar System.