Searching for Atmospheric Signatures of Other Worlds (Abstract)

Volume 44 number 1 (2016)

Mercedes Lopez-Morales

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138; mlopez-morales@cfa.harvard.edu

Abstract

(Abstract only) The field of exoplanets continues to evolve at giant steps. With about 2000 planets already discovered around other stars, the next big challenge is to detect and characterize their atmospheres: What is the chemical composition of the atmospheres of those planets? What is their temperature? Do they have clouds? In this talk I will review what we have learned about exoplanets in the past two decades and the current and future efforts to unveil their atmospheres.