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Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto

Stellar variabilities: challenges for the detection and characterization of low-mass planets

I. Boisse, X. Dumusque, N. C. Santos, M. Oshagh, X. Bonfils, M. Montalto, G. Boué, C. Lovis

Abstract.
The photometric and RV techniques, although extremely efficient to detect and characterize planets are however indirect techniques (as well as astrometry).
Phenomena such as stellar pulsation, inhomogeneous convection, spots or magnetic cycles can prevent us from finding planets or they might degrade the parameters estimation (e.g. Boisse et al. 2009, 2011). We will consider the challenges related to the knowledge of stellar activity for the next decade: detect telluric planets in the habitable zone of their stars (from G to M dwarfs, e.g. Dumusque et al. 2011), understand the activity in the low-mass end of M dwarf (on which will focus future projects like SPIRou or CARMENES, Boisse et al. subm.), limit to the sum of different transit observations in order to characterize the atmospheric components (from the ground or with Spitzer or JWST, Boisse et al. in prep., Oshagh et al. in prep.), as well as the methods proposed and used to overcome this issue.

IAU Symposium 293: Formation, detection, and characterization of extrasolar habitable planets
Beijing, China
August 2012

Type: Oral comunication

Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences

Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) is a new but long anticipated research infrastructure with a national dimension. It embodies a bold but feasible vision for the development of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Sciences in Portugal, taking full advantage and fully realizing the potential created by the national membership of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). IA resulted from the merging the two most prominent research units in the field in Portugal: the Centre for Astrophysics of the University of Porto (CAUP) and the Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Lisbon (CAAUL). It currently hosts more than two-thirds of all active researchers working in Space Sciences in Portugal, and is responsible for an even greater fraction of the national productivity in international ISI journals in the area of Space Sciences. This is the scientific area with the highest relative impact factor (1.65 times above the international average) and the field with the highest average number of citations per article for Portugal.

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