Exoplanets

We know of thousands of planets orbiting stars other than the Sun, yet none so far look exactly like the solar system. In this talk I will describe how we identify these planets; how varied the types of planetary systems we have found are; and what some of the open questions that researchers are trying to answer are.

I will describe how we can find, and what we know about circumbinary exoplanets, planets that orbit around two stars, rather than one, like Tatooine. This involves getting astronomical data from Provence, from the Atacama desert and from the Antarctic plateau.

We've now discovered over 5500 planets beyond the solar system, and we are learning about them in more detail than ever before. But how are these planets found in the first place? And what's the best place on earth to hunt for new worlds? Join me for an exploration of one of astronomy's youngest subfields, and learn how shadows and wobbles help us find alien planets orbiting distant stars.