Description:

Benjamin Montet
University of Chicago
Making the Most of Exoplanet Searches

The Kepler mission has revolutionized our understanding of the number and diversity of planetary systems in our galaxy, and TESS will soon follow in its footsteps. By observing hundreds of thousands of stars to search for subtle brightness variations induced by transiting planets, Kepler has also enabled major advances in stellar and galactic astronomy well beyond the core mission requirements. In this seminar, I will discuss some of the lagniappe science results enabled by both Kepler and future missions which significantly add to their legacies. Specifically, I will describe how the large number of stars observed by Kepler has allowed us to understand spacecraft systematics, enabling the success of the extended Kepler mission, K2. I will also outline ongoing work to search for long-term brightness variations of stars in the Kepler field caused by stellar magnetic cycles. I will conclude with a look to the future, describing how the WFIRST microlensing mission will continue the transiting planet revolution.

Host: Fred Rasio