MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2014



Extreme Solar Systems

Ms. Katherine Deck, Graduate Student, MKI

Jan/23 Thu 02:30PM-03:00PM 37-252

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none

What does a typical planetary system look like? Thanks to an enormous amount of observational work, we know now that planet formation can be considered efficient: most stars like the Sun host an exoplanet. Furthermore, systems of multiple planets are also par for the course. However, the systems we are finding don't always resemble our own Solar System. I'll discuss how we measure the shapes and orientations of planetary orbits when we cannot directly see the planets themselves, and then describe a few of the most intriguing multi-planet systems we've found.

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.

For a complete listing of IAP activities offered by MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, please see our IAP website.

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU