Planetary Science seminars

Ania Liu examines gravitational-wave lensing as a probe of compact objects, dark matter and cosmic large-scale structure. Propagation over cosmological distances can distort signals, but identifying lensing in observations requires disentangling those distortions from uncertain waveform models and other astrophysical effects. The talk describes this phenomenology and the ambiguities it creates for interpretation, then presents recent methods and results from lensing searches using LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA data.

Lisa Dang explores how observations reveal the three-dimensional atmospheres and climates of close-in exoplanets. Kepler and TESS have established a diverse population that tests theories of planetary formation and evolution. Tidally locked short-period planets offer strong atmospheric signals but their large day–night contrasts make one-dimensional interpretations inadequate. Measurements from JWST and precise ground-based observatories can expose these spatial differences and determine whether an atmosphere is present. The talk reviews discoveries about intensely irradiated planets and explains how the same observational techniques now investigate temperate rocky worlds and their potential habitability.