Wednesday Seminar Series

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

This week features Dimitri Mawet, Associate Professor of Astronomy.

How to photograph extrasolar worlds

The discovery of thousands of exoplanets over the past 20 years taught us that our solar system is just one example among a surprising variety of world architectures. Most of these planetary systems were detected by indirect techniques, which have ushered in the field of exoplanetology. In this talk, I will focus on direct, high-contrast imaging of exoplanets and my efforts to build the best possible cameras for the job, going back 15 years when I was a senior undergrad. Beyond taking striking pictures of other worlds, direct imaging has yielded the most detailed remote-sensing measurements of exoplanet atmospheres to date. High contrast imaging is poised to blossom into a powerhouse exoplanet characterization technique with the advent of next-generation giant ground- and space-based telescopes.