Speaker
Ray Jayawardhana
Description
Two decades ago, we knew of only one planetary
system: our own. Since then, astronomers have found
nearly a thousand confirmed planets and thousands
more planet candidates around other stars. These
discoveries --most of which have been made by
measuring the subtle effects that planets induce on
stars-- have revealed a remarkable diversity of worlds,
from close-in super-Earths to far out super-Jupiters,
blurring the very definition of what constitutes a
"planet". They have challenged our preconceptions
about the origins and architectures of planetary systems
many times over. Now we stand on the verge of
identifying the first crop of terrestrial worlds in the
habitable zone where rocky planets could sustain liquid
water on the surface. Our picture is far from complete,
however, and more surprises are likely in store. I will
review the emerging view of the planet population,
highlight the strengths and limitations of different search
techniques and discuss future prospects for extending
their reach.
