Dr. Ian Crossfield
University of Arizona
Small
stars and small planets are ubiquitous in the Galaxy. Planets smaller than ~2.5
Earth radii occur more frequently than any other type of planet; stars with
masses below ~0.4 Solar masses are the most common type of star. Nonetheless we
know much less about the formation, evolution, interior composition,
atmospheric makeup, and population trends of M dwarf planetary systems than we
do for planets orbiting Sunlike stars. I will review our work to shed further
light on the matter, including my team's large HST survey of transiting
super-Earth atmospheres and our search for new, small planets transiting M
dwarfs using NASA's new "K2" mission. These projects provide the
foundation necessary to enable many future exoplanet observations with JWST and
TMT.
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