Title:

MISHAPS: A survey to better understand the ingredients of giant planet formation

Abstract: 

While it has long been known that the occurrence rate of giant planets increases
significantly with host star metallicity, the elements that lead to
this trend have not yet been identified. The likely reason for this lack
of specificity is that most stars searched for planets to date belong
to either the Galactic thin or thick disk, which follow tight chemical
abundance ratio trends that make it challenging to disentangle which ones are causing giant planets to form at greater rates. To break this degeneracy it is necessary to
measure planet occurrence rates in different stellar populations with
different abundance trends. The Multiband Imaging Survey for
High-Alpha PlanetS (MISHAPS) is a 28-night survey using the DECam instrument on the
Blanco 4-m telescope to measure the occurrence rate of hot
Jupiters in the Galactic bulge, a stellar population with enhanced
abundances of alpha elements (Si, Mg, O, etc.) while having similar [Fe/H]
metallicities to thin disk stars. I'll present an overview of the
survey and some preliminary planet candidates.

Host:  Dan Stevens

Please email CEHW-SEMINAR-QUESTIONS@lists.psu.edu to register.