Stars, Planets, and ISM Seminar

Detailed Characterization of Exoplanets in the Golden Age of JWST, Gaia, and ELTs

With over six thousand discovered exoplanets, we are firmly in the age of exoplanet characterization. In this talk, I will connect exquisite observations of exoplanet atmospheres, bulk properties, and orbits to the fundamental question of how planets form and evolve. First, I will showcase the highest quality spectra of exoplanets from JWST, which is unlocking new formation tracers including sulfur, nitrogen, and deuterium. Combining JWST and a ground-based abundance survey from Keck/KPIC, I show how emerging trends in chemical compositions are delineating the boundaries between planet and star formation. Second, I show how precise dynamical masses from Gaia astrometry are opening new fields with the example of Gliese 229 B, the first brown dwarf companion which I resolved into a tight binary. Third, I discuss how Gaia epoch astrometry will soon revolutionize studies of planetary architecture and demographics, and the key role of McDonald Observatory in this endeavor. Finally, I look ahead to the transformational power of the Giant Magellan Telescope for exoplanet characterization, and discuss pathways to detecting biosignatures in Earth analogs with the ELTs and HWO.