Astronomy and Astrophysics - An Introductory Survey, A lecture series by Prof. G. Srinivasan - Lecture 34 - Exoplanets

AstroPHYSICS with Srini (https://www.youtube.com/@astrophysicswithsrini1094) The newly launched youtube channel of Prof. Srinivasan. WATCH it, SUBSCRIBE to it, and bring it to the attention of your friends! And here is why. The present course of introductory lectures will end with the 41st lecture. There are many topics in basic physics, as well as astrophysics, that you encountered in this course that deserves a 'revisit'. Prof. Srinivasan plans to make new videos on these topics and upload them to this channel. This will start to happen after the last lecture of this series has been released. Meanwhile, this channel is up. Currently, the PLAYLIST contains the 40 lectures that he delivered at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, a few years ago. You are welcome to contact Prof. Srinivasan at [email protected] if you have suggestions for topics, or if you have questions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The area of research that has attracted great attention in recent years is that of planet formation, recognized by the awarding of (2/3rd of) the 2019 Nobel prize to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz ``for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star''. In the past decade, NASA's Kepler Space Telescope has detected more than 3000 exoplanets ranging from sub-Earth-sized planets to huge gas giants that dwarf even our Jupiter, with densities ranging from that of styrofoam to iron. Astronomers find them close to their parent or host stars with scorching temperatures, to a great number in the so-called 'habitable zone' in which life (as we know it) can flourish." ABOUT THE LECTURE Even before Newton’s time, there were assertions that the stars were just like the sun, but far away. Some even went on to conjecture that there must be planets orbiting many of the stars. The first extrasolar planet was found in 1995. Today, nearly 6,000 exoplanets have been discovered. In this lecture, I discuss some of the current ideas on how planets form from gas and dust, left over from the formation of the host star. ABOUT THE LECTURE SERIES This lecture series is organized by the Astronomical Society of India as a part of its Golden Jubilee celebrations. Aimed at undergraduate and graduate students, this series of talks by renowned astrophysicist and teacher, Prof G. Srinivasan, starts from the first principles of Physics and builds up the subject rigorously to the present state of our understanding. Series website: https://astron-soc.in/srini-ana The website hosts a question bank as well as a list of suggested readings for each lecture (prepared by Dr. Sushan Konar) ABOUT THE SPEAKER Professor G. Srinivasan In a research career spanning more than five decades, his interests have spanned many aspects of physics and astrophysics. He is a passionate teacher and has authored two outstanding Astronomy texts titled ‘What Are The Stars?’ and ‘Can Stars Find Peace?’ He is a Past President of the Astronomical Society of India, and a Past President of the Division on Space and High Energy Astrophysics of the International Astronomical Union. In his distinguished career he has worked at the University of Chicago, USA; the IBM Research Laboratory in Zurich, Switzerland; Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden; the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England and the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru Follow us on social media at https://twitter.com/asipoec https://www.facebook.com/asi.poec/ This series is also supported by the IAU OAE Centre in India https://twitter.com/astro4edu_India https://www.facebook.com/OAE-Center-India-105698322030674