JAPC - Using the Rossiter Effect to Detect Earth-size Planets

Speaker: Dr. William Welsh, SDSU Dept. of Astronomy

Topic: "Using the Rossiter Effect to Detect Earth-size Planets"

Time: 2:00 PM, Friday, March 14th, 2008

Place: P-148 (refreshments will be served at 1:45 PM in P145A)

Abstract: Most extrasolar planets have been discovered via their gravitational pull on their host stars: the Doppler reflex motion of the star reveals the presence of the planet. If the planet eclipses its star, there is a drop in the observed brightness and also a distortion in the observed orbital radial velocity, known as the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. The effect can be large compared to the orbital velocity itself. Terrestrial planets orbiting Sun-like stars are practically impossible to detect using the radial velocity method, but a future space-based photometry mission called "Kepler" can detect Earth-size planets if they eclipse their host star. Can the Rossiter effect be used to confirm the discovery of Earth-like planets? In this talk I will discuss the Rossiter effect and present simulations of the observational signature of an Earth-size planet eclipsing a Sun-like star.

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