Note: The speaker will not be appearing in-person and will be speaking to us via Zoom from the Seattle area.
Why are astronomers so excited about TRAPPIST-1?
We will hear from an astronomer who has been at the forefront of several of the exciting veins of research in astronomy. Professor Eric Agol developed some of the methods most commonly used to detect exoplanets and created software that makes these methods easily accessible for professional and amateur astronomers alike. He will tell us about a nearby star system that contains an amazing and intriguing set of planets. It will be one of the first targets for exploration with the James Webb Space Telescope and is likely to generate even more excitement over the next few years. Please see below for Professor Agol's description of his presentation. We're very fortunate to have him share his perspective and hope you'll be able join us.
The question "Are we alone?" has prompted astronomers to search
for planets orbiting other stars which might be suitable for life.
This is a *very* challenging search: to date, no Earth-like planet has been found around a star like our Sun. But, our Sun has brethren which make the search much easier: the tiny, wimpy stars called "ultra-cool dwarfs." Incredibly, in 2016, the first search for planets around ultra-cool dwarfs turned up a stellar system with at least three Earth-sized planets: TRAPPIST-1. The following year, we detected seven planets transiting this star with the Spitzer Space Telescope, several of which are both similar in size to Earth and with incident starlight spanning the range of our terrestrial planets in the Solar System. I will introduce the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, show off our latest efforts to measure the masses and sizes of
its planets, and discuss the prospects for trying to detect their atmospheres with the James Webb Space Telescope. This includes a search for gases in disequilibrium which might be indicative of life.
About Professor Eric Agol
Eric Agol is a professor and astrophysicist at the University of Washington in the Department of Astronomy. He has worked on black holes, gravitational lensing, and extrasolar planets. He carried out simulations that inspired the Event Horizon Telescope, which recently captured a photo of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. He developed the transit-timing method for measuring the masses of multi-planet transiting systems, including TRAPPIST-1. He found planets with the Kepler Space Telescope, and has developed software tools which are used by astronomers
from around the world to study exoplanets. He lives in Edmonds, Washington, with his wife and six kids, four of whom were recently adopted from Ukraine.