Exoplanets


Four Detection Methods



1. Radial Velocity





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First extra-solar planet:
51 Peg b, a swiss discovery!

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2. Photometric dimming





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  Amateur data


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  Professional data


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3. Microlensing








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  Light Curve of OGLE-2005-BLG-390 


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4. Direct Imaging

 


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  Comparison with our Solar System  


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A few (peculiar) results



Planet-forming disc

 


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This object appears to be a perfect example of an isolated very young star with a disk in which planets are forming or will soon form, located far away from the usual perils of an active star-forming environment



Rocky Planets like Earth





 Spectra of inner and outer
 regions of young discs
 


   
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 Crystalline silicate
 grains (sand)
 


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 Comparison with comets 



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Ingredients for the formation of rocky planets discovered in the innermost regions of the proto-planetary discs around three young stars suggest that the formation of earth-like planets may not be so unsual





Smallest known exoplanet



 


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        An "Earth-like" planet with 5 Earth mass
  • Rotation period around parent star : 10 years
  • Average temperature : -220o C
  • Distance to parent star: 2.6 au
  • Parent Star type : M-dwarf
  • Parent Star mass : 0.22 x solar mass






OGLE survey and PLANET collaboration







  OGLE:      100 millions stars observed
  PLANET:  200 resolved microlensing events analysed (last 3 years)

  CONCLUSION: <33% of M-dwarfs have Jupiter-mass companions between 1.5 and 4 AU









Exoplanets statistics

 


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background photo: Pillars of creation in the Eagle Nebula (M16) (Credit: ESO)
http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2001/phot-37-01.html