Wednesday Seminar Series

Come hear from Caltech faculty and JPL scientists about their exciting research! Lunch will be served to the first 100 guests.

Heather A. Knutson is Professor of Planetary Science at Caltech, in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences.

The Grand Tour:  Exploring Planets Outside the Solar System

The past decade has marked a period of great progress in our quest to discover and characterize the properties of the planets outside of our own solar system.  Observations of eclipsing systems, in which the planet periodically passes in front of and then behind its star as seen from the earth, have given us new insight into the nature of these alien worlds.  In my talk I will discuss ongoing efforts to understand the diverse properties of extrasolar planets, including their compositions, temperatures, and weather patterns, using a combination of both ground- and space-based telescopes.