A Guide to Detecting the Youngest Exoplanets (Rich Teague) and Climate-landscape links from Earth to Mars (Gaia Stucky de Quay)

Abstract: Rich Teague - Observing exoplanets during their formation is essential if we are to uncover the process that form them. I will provide a brief overview of the current set of methods -- which we apply across a range of wavelengths -- to detect such exoplanets. I will discuss the current status of these detections and demonstrate how we are using them to understand the conditions present during the accretion of atmospheres and the formation of sattelite systems. To conclude, I will look to the future and describe the on-going campaigns with ALMA, HST and JWST that promise to increase the number of exoplanets we have detected at this very young age. Gaia Stucky de Quay - Fluvio-lacustrine features (i.e., lakes and rivers) on the martian surface attest to a climate that was radically different in the past. Studies of valley networks and paleolakes suggest that long-lived precipitation may have persisted up to 3.7 Ga. However many questions persist regarding the role of water in shaping the surface, including what kind of ancient hydroclimate could have supported these aqueous processes. Paleolakes collected water through rivers flowing in to craters – but not all craters formed paleolakes. Why is this the case? Which factors control why a crater has rivers flowing into it, and can we predict which craters contained water in the past? We show it is possible to identify key factors, but many uncertainties remain concerning the longevity of water flow and river erosion rates. In the second part of this talk, I discuss how we can use terrestrial analogs to improve our understanding of erosion rates on terrains of similar composition to Mars. By comparing erosion in basaltic rock across widely different climates, we can isolate the key factors that determine how a landscape evolves over time, thus providing key quantitative constraints on the climate-landscape relationship for the early Mars system. 

About this Series: The MIT Planetary Lunch Seminar [PLS] is a weekly seminar series organized within the EAPS department. Colloquia topics span the range of research interests of the department's planetary sciences research program. The seminars take place on Tuesdays from 12:30–1:30 pm, unless otherwise noted (term-time only). Speakers include members of the MIT community and visitors. Talks are intended to appeal to graduate students, postdocs, research scientists, and faculty with a background in planetary science. For more information and Zoom password contact: planetary-org@mit.edu.