On Thursday, October 2nd at 3:00pm in the N245/ Space Science
Auditorium, the Ames Center for Exoplanet Studies (ACES) will be
hosting a colloquium by David Latham of the 
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics on "Super Earths and
Life". There will be a reception in the auditorium lobby area immediately
following the colloquium.

Dr. David Latham
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Title: Super Earths and Life

Abstract 
-------- 

Planets that transit in front of other stars are special.  The amount of
light blocked by the planet as it passes in front of its host star sets
the size of the planet (relative to the star).  If an orbit can be
derived from Doppler spectroscopy of the host star, the light curve also
provides the orientation of the orbit, leading to the mass of the planet
(again relative to the star).  The resulting density for the planet can
be used to constrain models for its structure and bulk properties.  We
are on the verge of using these techniques to characterize Super Earths,
planets in the range 1 to 10 Earth masses that may prove to be rocky or
water worlds.  NASA missions such as Kepler and TESS promise to play key
roles.

Transiting planets also provide remarkable opportunities for
spectroscopy of planetary atmospheres: transmission spectra during
transit events and thermal emission throughout the orbit, calibrated
during secondary eclipse.  Spectroscopy of Super Earths will not be
easy, but is not out of the question for JWST. Our long-range vision is
to attack big questions, such as "Does the diversity of planetary
environments map onto a diversity of biochemistries, or is there only
one chemistry for life?"  A giant first step would be to study the
diversity of global geochemistry on Super Earths and Earth analogs.


Biography

Dr.  Latham has an undergraduate degree from MIT and a PhD in Astronomy
from Harvard 1970.  He has have been involved in building the Whipple
Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona, from the very beginning, both
telescopes and instruments.  His research has ranged from observational
cosmology to studies of binaries in a variety of stellar populations,
with recent emphasis on the detection and characterization of extrasolar
planets.  Dr.  Latham is a Co-I on the Kepler mission, responsible for
the Kepler Input Catalog and for follow-up observations, and Chief
Mission Scientist on the TESS mission.