|
“Hunting for Earths” Professor Debra Fischer San Francisco State University |
| With more than 200 extrasolar planets discovered, the aim now is the detection of Earth-like planets in habitable zones. In this talk I review what we've learned from short period planets and transits and how this informs our understanding of planet formation and evolution. I also explain the challenges that are keeping us from detecting Earth analogs and I describe the most ambitious programs that aim to detect not just a single Earth, but a system of low-mass planets in the habitable zone of nearby stars, using complementary techniques of Doppler measurements and astrometry from space with the Space Interferometry Mission. |