Solar System and Exoplanets

Flashcards summarizing key concepts from the Solar System and exoplanets lecture notes.

Faint planets

Planets appear very close to their stars, which are much brighter, making them almost completely invisible.

Dust disks

Common features found around new-born stars, believed to be where planets form.

Astrometric detection

Detection of planets via positional wobble of the star caused by the gravitational influence of the planet.

Spectroscopic detection

Detection of planets through the blueshifts and redshifts of absorption lines in the star's spectrum.

Photometric detection

Detection method based on observing the transit of a planet in front of its star, causing a decrease in brightness.

Gravitational lensing

A method used to detect planets by observing the magnification of a background star's brightness when a star or planet moves in front of it.

Barycenter

The common center of mass around which two bodies orbit, influenced by their respective masses.

Doppler effect

The change in frequency or wavelength of light from a star as it moves in response to the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet.

Kepler mission

NASA's mission that monitored a field of stars for transiting exoplanets over a mission lifetime of up to 6 years.

Habitable zone

The region around a star where conditions may be suitable for liquid water to exist on a planet's surface.

Gliese 667

A nearby star system that includes three potentially habitable planets.

Exoplanet

A planet that orbits a star outside of our solar system.

Hot Jupiters

A class of exoplanets that are large in size but orbit very close to their stars, resulting in high temperatures.

TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)

A mission to search for exoplanets that block part of the light from their host stars.

Kepler-452b

An exoplanet found to be relatively similar to Earth, suggesting conditions may be suitable for life.

TRAPPIST-1 system

A star system famous for having seven Earth-sized planets, three of which are located in the habitable zone.