Recent developments in the study of extra-solar planets
By: Nuno C. Santos
From: Centro de Astronomia e Astrofisica
da Universidade de Lisboa,
Observatorio Astronomico de Lisboa
At: Complexo Interdisciplinar, Anfiteatro
[2006-03-29]
Different extra-solar planet search programs have revealed up to now about 170 planets. This list includes multi-planetary systems, as well as the first rocky (earth-like) worlds. The use of photometric transits, complemented with the Doppler radial-velocity measurements, is now giving the possibility to study the structure and atmospheres of these systems. In this talk I will review the most recent results on this field. I will present the many problems and questions raised by the new discoveries, as well as the impact they had in the models of planet formation and evolution.