Exoplanet Focus Meeting for the Chilean Scientific Community
Santiago, Chile, June 4, 2015
The contribution of the Chilean scientific community to the field of exoplanetary research has been crucial in advancing our understanding of this relatively new discipline of astronomy. Having some of the most powerful telescopes in the world situated in Chile for the purpose of observing the southern hemisphere skies, has facilitated the dawn of advancement for exoplanetary research here in Chile. The European Southern Observatory headquarters in Vitacura, Santiago, has a long standing tradition of collaboration and partnership with various astronomy and astrophysics groups in Chile, across a number of universities and institutions. This exoplanet focus meeting intends to follow this rich tradition, giving various scientists and students in Chile and ESO the opportunity to present their current research. This, we hope, will initiate further possibilities for collaboration across the various sub-disciplines in the field and give a better understanding of the state of research and instrumentation being developed.
The meeting comprises talks spanning most fields of exoplanetary research, such as radial velocity and transit surveys, atmospheric studies, direct imaging, free-floating planets, as well as a historical overview of exoplanet research in Chile. Furthermore, presentations on new instrumentation such as SPHERE/VLT, VISIR/VLT or FIDEOS should provide ideas for new channels of investigation. As an additional bonus, possible contribution of the ALMA radio telescope to exoplanet studies is presented, where the place of debris disks in planetary formation and evolution is discussed. The main aims of the meeting is to:
1. Give an overview of current state of affairs in exoplanetary research and the contribution of Chilean scientific community to the field.
2. Inform the community of the ongoing research at Chilean universities and institutes, with the hope of building further collaboration.
3. Present possible new avenues of detecting, studying and characterising exoplanets, with new instruments and telescopes in Chile.
Email: esedagha@eso.org
Organizers: Henri Boffin & Elyar Sedaghati, ESO
