Dr. Agol will work to develop three novel techniques for detecting and characterizing extrasolar planets around other stars: (1) the timing of eclipses by giant planets to detect terrestrial-mass planets; (2) finding a much larger sample of extrasolar planets with multi-object radial velocity surveys and using these for transit timing, detection of thermal emission, and statistical characterization of extrasolar planet properties; (3) a feasibility and optimization study of direct imaging of extrasolar planets with coronagraphic telescopes. This work will further our understanding of the distribution of types of planets and their host stars, the diversity of planet properties,constrain the formation mechanism of other planetary systems, and possibly shed light on the formation of our own solar system.
Dr. Agol will incorporate students from the University of Washington Astronomy Department's Pre-major in Astronomy Program (Pre-MAP) into this research program. Pre-MAP is a program to attract and retain traditionally underrepresented students to astronomy and science, technology, engineering, and math majors (STEM). Dr. Agol will oversee the program, recruit students, and supervise student research as part of his role as the faculty director of the program. Dr. Agol will also help in replicating this program in other STEM departments (at the University of Washington) and will expand the program to include community-college transfer students.
This award is funded by the NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences
The discovery of planets orbiting other stars has blossomed in the last decade with over 1000 'exoplanets' found orbiting other stars. This grant helped with the development and application of new techniques for the detection and characterization of planets, including smaller planets and less massive planets, in addition to other goals. Some of the highlights include: 1) The most precise measurment of the mass and radius of a planet just slightly larger than Earth, Kepler-36b, which has a companion planet that is so close that it would appear 2.5 times larger from the smaller planet compared to the Moon as viewed from Earth. Here is how it might look if you could transport Seattle to the surface of the smaller planet. 2) Discovery of the smallest diameter confirmed planet (1.4x the Earth's) that could potentially sustain liquid water, Kepler-62f (this discovery was superseded in 2014 with the discovery of an even smaller planet, Kepler-186f). 3) Further development and application of a new technique for measuring the masses of smaller planets called 'transit-timing variations.' This technique has been used to confirm dozens of planets found with the Kepler spacecraft. It has also been used to constrain the masses and eccentricities of a large number of planets, also found with Kepler. 4) Development and growth of an undergraduate research program in astronomy, the Pre-Major in Astronomy Program, which has involved dozens of undergraduates in research at the University of Washington (UW), and has also been emulated at other universities, including Harvard and Boston University. This program has precipitated the professional development of Astronomy graduate students at UW who primarily run the program. 5) The proposal of the 'white dwarf habitable zone,' which is a region nearby old white dwarfs in which planets would have temperatures similar to Earth if they were there. These planets could be found with future transit surveys. 6) The first two-dimensional infrared map of a planet orbiting another star. 7) Discovery of the first 'self-lensing' binary star, that causes a brightening due to gravitational magnification. 8) Discovery of the first planet system with seven planets that transit the same star. 9) Proposed a technique for searching for oceans and continents on Earth-like exoplanets.
