Abstract

Invited Talk - Splinter Exoplanets

Thursday, 24 September 2020, 14:00   (virtual room D)

Big Steps Toward Small Worlds: Atmosphere Characterization of Sub-Neptunes and Super-Earths

Laura Kreidberg
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

Planets in between the size of Earth and Neptune are one of the dominant outcomes of planet formation. These worlds have no analogue in the Solar System, and their existence gives rise to many questions: what is the typical bulk composition of these small planets? how do they form? what are they like? To address these questions, we turn to atmosphere characterization, which provides a wealth of additional information about the planets beyond their masses and radii. In this talk, I will present new results from Hubble and Spitzer observational campaigns focused on small planet atmospheres, including (1) a search for demographic trends in the sub-Neptune population and (2) a search an atmosphere on the super-Earth LHS 3844b.