Astronomy Seminar: Origin of Kepler systems from the migration of resonant chains

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Date/Time:Friday, 11 Oct 2019 from 4:10 pm to 5:10 pm
Location:Rm 38, Physics Hall
Cost:$0
Contact:Curt Struck
Phone:515-294-3666
Channel:College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
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Dr. Daniel Carrera, ISU

The thousands of exoplanets found by NASA's Kepler mission have often challenged our views of how planet formation occurs. In this talk I will discuss two of the most interesting puzzles in the Kepler exoplanet catalogue: (a) the large number close-in planets with orbital periods apparently smaller than the inner edge of the protoplanetry disk, and (b) the large excess of stars with only one transiting planet (known as the Kepler dichotomy) relative to what is predicted by geometric considerations. Then I will show how these features seem to arise naturally from the migration of long chains of planets locked into mutual mean motion resonances. In the process we will gain insight into how the universe makes compact close-in multi-planet systems, and why those systems are special.