Colloquium

Detecting Extrasolar Planets as Blemishes in Einstein's Lenses

Professor David Bennett
University of Notre Dame

Wednesday, October 14, 2009   4:00 p.m.  NSH 118

(Refreshments at 3:30 p.m. NSH 202)

 

 

The gravitational deflection of light rays by the Sun was first observed in the famous 1919 solar eclipse expedition led by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, which provided the first observational confirmation of Einstein's theory of gravitation. Several international teams of astronomers now use a version of this phenomena, known as the gravitational microlensing method, to detect planets orbiting distant stars. In contrast to other extrasolar planet detection methods, gravitational microlensing has been able to detect planets of only a few earth masses with orbital periods of more than a year. Gravitational microlensing is also one of the few areas in astronomy in which (very talented) amateur astronomers have made a significant contribution.

I explain the basic physics behind the gravitational microlensing planet detection method and present highlights of the discoveries made with this method. I also discuss the future prospects for this planet detection method.

Host: Peter Garnavich