Lecture 10. Extrasolar planets

Further reading

• The most complete list is at "The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia" http://exoplanet.eu/, but it's just a giant list of planets, with not much by way of readable information.
• NASA now has a site called "PlanetQuest: Exoplanet exploration" at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/, which has a host of useful information, including a page to search the catalogue of exoplanets in various ways
• The California and Carnegie Planet Search, http://exoplanets.org/ has lots of useful things, but doesn't appear to have been updated very recently
• space.com has a list of their "Top 10 Most Intriguing Extrasolar Planets" at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/extrasolar_planets.html

Source for images

• Background image: Artist's conception of Sedna, from Spitzer Press Release 15 March 2004, http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2004-05/index.shtml
• Light house and firefly: from PlanetQuest "Search for another Earth" powerpoint presentation http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/frequentImages.cfm
• Astrometric displacement due to Jupiter: Planet Quest: Science - Finding planets http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/science/finding_planets.cfm
• Iodine cell: from The Anglo-Australian Planet Search, http://www.aao.gov.au/local/www/cgt/planet/aat.html
• Example spectrum through iodine cell: from TLS Tautenburg: Coudé Echelle Spectrograph, http://www.tls-tautenburg.de/coude/echelle_spectrograph.html
• Echelle spectrum: from "The Lowest Mass Exoplanet: 6 - 8 Earth-Masses" http://exoplanets.org/gl876_web/gl876_graphics.html
• 51 Pegasi figures: from Niel Brandt, Astro 1, http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/niel/astro1/slideshows/class44/slides-44.html
• 47 Ursa Majoris: artist's impression by John Whatmough, from Astronomy Picture of the Day 1997 October 5, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971005.html; 70 Virginis, image by Walter Myers, http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/exo_020.htm
• Orbit geometry: from "The Search for and Discovery of Extra-Solar Planets" by Richard Larson, http://www.astro.washington.edu/larson/Astro150b/Lectures/ExtraSolarPlanets/xsp.html
• Transit: by Hans Deeg, from http://www.iac.es/proyect/tep/fig1moda.gif
• Venus transit: photo by David Cortner, from Astronomy Picture of the Day 2004 June 23, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040623.html
• Transit light curve: from "Planets orbiting around other stars" by Michael Richmond, http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys230/lectures/planets/planets.html
• Mass distribution: from California and Carnegie Planet Search, http://exoplanets.org/figures.html
• Semi-major axis distribution: from California and Carnegie Planet Search, http://exoplanets.org/semimajor_axes.html
• Eccentricities: from Extra-Solar Planet Data Trends, http://home.cwru.edu/~sjr16/advanced/esol_trends.html
• Upsilon Andromedae: artist's impression by Lynette Cook, from Astronomy Picture of the Day, 16 April 1999, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990416.html; orbital diagram, from http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/hotimage/upsAnd_hotimage.html
• Exoplanet systems: from California and Carnegie Planet Search, http://exoplanets.org/multi_chart_big.jpg
• 55 Cancri: from Planet Quest http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/news/ssu_images.cfm
• Bode's Law for 55 Cancri: http://www.bautforum.com/against-mainstream/67011-bodes-law-extrasolar-planets.html
• Spiral accretion streams: from http://www.pd.infn.it/~mbarbier/research/esp/
• Planetary migration movie: from Pawel Artymowicz: Planetary systems and their changing theories, http://www.astro.su.se/~pawel/planets/movies.html
• Resonance table: from "Planetary Harmony" by Robert Naeye, Australian S&T January 2005
• Upsilon Andromedae orbits: from http://exobio.chez.tiscali.fr/newsavril99.htm. Simulation: from Planet-Planet Scattering in Upsilon Andromedae, http://www.astro.northwestern.edu/rasio/UpsAndPR/
• Atmosphere around HD 209458: from Hubble Site News Release, November 27 2001, http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2001/38/. Sodium absorption: from space.com, First Detection Made of an Extrasolar Planet's Atmosphere, http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/extrasolar_atmosphere_011127-1.html
• Migrating-planet simulations: from Raymond, Mandell and Sigurdsson 2006, Science 131 141
• X-ray flares from Orion: Chandra press release, 10 May 2005, http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/05_releases/press_051005.html
• Habitable zone: from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoplanets
• Intelligent life: from Niel Brandt http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/niel/astro1/slideshows/class44/slides-44.html
• Gliese 581c: from Le Figaro Magazine, 9 Jun 2007, "Exoplanète : Gliese 581C ressemble à notre Terre", paintings by Olivier de Goursac, http://www.lefigaro.fr/magazine/20070608.MAG000000328_gliese_c_ressemble_tant_notre_terre.html
• Gliese 581 habitable zone: from ESO Press Release 15/09: Lightest exoplanet yet discovered http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2009/pr-15-09.html
• HD209458b: from The extrasolar planet HD 209458 b http://www2.iap.fr/exoplanetes/images_hd209458_en.html
• SWEEPS-10: NASA Feature "Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy", 10.04.06 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/exoplanet_transit.html
• Gliese 876: ESA Hubble site http://www.spacetelescope.org/goodies/art/html/lynette_cook.html
• HD 149026: from Spitzer News 05.09.07 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/news/spitzer-20070509.html; planet interior, from Sky and Telescope July 8 2005 http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3310426.html?page=1&c=y
• Microlensing simulation: from the Microlensing Planet Search Project, http://www.nd.edu/~srhie/MPS/
• Artist's conception of latest microlensed planet: from CfA Press Release, 23 May 2005, http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/press/pr0514.html
• Binary microlens: from http://bustard.phys.nd.edu/MPS/97-BLG-41/97blg41.html
• Kepler field of view: from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_Mission

Back to main page

Last updated 26 May 2009