SPP 1992:  Exploring the diversity of extrasolar planets

• Subject Area: Physics
• Term: since 2017
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 313698196

One of the most exciting recent discoveries in astronomy is the existence of a huge variety of extrasolarplanets orbiting other stars, including numerous multi-planet systems. Exoplanets can be very different to those found in our Solar System, and range from the so-called "Hot Jupiter" and "mini-Neptune" gas planets to large rocky planets ("super-"Earths).This Priority Program (SPP) aims to explore such diversity and understand its origins. The SPP will make substantial contributions to answering the following fundamental questions:What does the diversity of exoplanets tell us about their formation processes and the evolution of planets and planetary systems?What can we learn about the astrophysical conditions necessary to harbour life and are these conditions common in our Milky Way?To understand the diversity and complexity of exoplanets requires combined efforts across disciplines, linking observational planet detection and characterization to theory. The German research community already has the key elements necessary for such a concerted effort. The major observational basis in the timeframe of this SPP will be formed by upcoming international projects for which German scientists have leading roles, such as, e.g., CARMENES, NGTS, GAIA, CHEOPS and instruments at major groundbased observatories. In addition, public data will be available, e.g. from the US-led K2 and TESS missions, and the James-Webb-Telescope (JWST) will be launched. The theoretical research activities on exoplanets in Germany cover the critical fields relevant for their characterization, from planetary interiors, and atmospheres to planet formation. It is timely to join forces across the various sub-disciplines in order to address the above key questions, to remain competitive internationally, and to harvest the scientific returns resulting from the large financial investments made into the observational projects mentioned above.Science areas addressed in this SPP therefore include:the detection of exoplanets and observational characterization of their properties (e.g. orbit, mass, radius, atmosphere); andthe understanding of exoplanet properties and diversity in terms of atmospheres, planetary interiors, habitability, formation and evolution processes.During the two funding periods of 3 years each (2017-2022) this SPP will focus the German exoplanet science community to explore the new data by driving scientific data exploitation, triggering dedicated follow-up observations for further characterization, and by developing the related theory needed to answer the above mentioned scientific questions. These activities will prepare the German community for the further afield projects which will become available in the next decade (e.g. E-ELT, PLATO 2.0) and thus maintain the strong impact of German scientists in this rapidly developing area.The focus of this SPP lies on science clearly related to the analysis and interpretation of already available.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• International Connection: China, Israel, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, USA

Projects

• Atmospheric characterization of exoplanets around active host stars (Applicant Khalafinejad, Ph.D., Sara )
• Characterising the population of wide orbit exoplanets (Applicant Deacon, Niall )
• Characterization of directly imaged exoplanets at their youngest ages (Applicant Schmidt, Tobias )
• Characterization of young accreting planets II: Consistent dust evolution and chemistry (Applicants Birnstiel, Tilman ;  Klahr, H. Hubertus ;  Wolf, Sebastian )
• Characterizing and Understanding the Planet Population around Intermediate Mass Stars (Applicant Reffert, Sabine )
• Composition of planets with an N-body-Monte-Carlo approach (Applicant Dullemond, Cornelis Petrus )
• Cool Earths: Discovering Exoplanets beyond the Snow-line with Gravitational Microlensing (Applicant Wambsganss, Joachim )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Rauer, Heike )
• Detection and characterization of exoplanets through gravitational microlensing in the age of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) (Applicant Tsapras, Ph.D., Yiannis )
• Detection and Characterization of sub-Jovian Planets with NGTS (Next Generation Transit Survey) (Applicant Rauer, Heike )
• Detection, Confirmation and Characterization of Multi-planet Systems by Transit Time Variations (Applicant Pätzold, Martin )
• Dynamical Evolution of Planetary Systems in Star Clusters (Applicant Spurzem, Rainer )
• Energetic radiation from exoplanet hosts: The most detailed study of our nearest host star Proxima Centauri (Applicant Schneider, Christian )
• EXO-HEAT – Interior Heating of Exoplanets (Applicant Noack, Lena )
• Exploring the Diversity of Exoplanets Bulk Densities in multi-parameter space (Applicants Hatzes, Artie P. ;  Pätzold, Martin ;  Rauer, Heike )
• Exploring the Diversity of Exoplanets in the Mass-Density Diagram (Applicants Hatzes, Artie P. ;  Pätzold, Martin ;  Rauer, Heike )
• Formation and early evolution of gas giants: Shocks and planetary spins (Applicants Kuiper, Rolf ;  Marleau, Gabriel-Dominique )
• Formation and early evolution of gas giants: The accretion shock and its consequences (Applicant Kuiper, Rolf )
• He I λ10 830 transmission spectroscopy: A new window on the dynamics of planetary atmospheres (Applicant Czesla, Stefan )
• Higher-order atmospheric effects in the optical occultations and phase curves of exoplanets (Applicant García Muñoz, Ph.D., Antonio )
• How does stellar convection impact the detection of small planets at high radial velocity precision ? (Applicant Reiners, Ansgar )
• How does the chemical composition of stars influence planet formation? (Applicant Bitsch, Bertram )
• How long can the most extreme planetary systems survive? Measuring the tidal orbital decay of hot Jupiters. (Applicant Smith, Alexis )
• How planetary systems are shaped by their birthplace (Applicant Spurzem, Rainer )
• Interior-atmosphere feedbacks and the nature of detected sub-Neptunian planets (Applicants Rauer, Heike ;  Tosi, Nicola )
• Mountains and Deserts in the demographics of Giants (Applicants Ercolano, Ph.D., Barbara ;  Preibisch, Thomas )
• NaCo Imaging Survey for Planets around Young Stars (NaCo-ISPY) (Applicants Müller, André ;  Quirrenbach, Andreas )
• NLTE in the upper atmospheres of exoplanets (Applicants García Muñoz, Ph.D., Antonio ;  Schweitzer, Andreas )
• Observing and modeling young transiting planets (Applicants Mugrauer, Markus ;  Neuhäuser, Ralph ;  Redmer, Ronald )
• Pebble accretion and the composition of exoplanets (Applicants Birnstiel, Tilman ;  Dullemond, Cornelis Petrus )
• RedDots: all terrestrial planets within 5pc (Applicant Jeffers, Sandra )
• Short- and Long-Period Planets around Evolved Stars (Applicants Quirrenbach, Andreas ;  Reffert, Sabine )
• Single transit survey in CoRoT, Kepler, K2 and TESS light curves (Applicant Pätzold, Martin )
• Starspots meet planets: A new tool to investigate the physics of transiting exoplanetary systems around active stars (Applicant Schmitt, Jürgen H.M.M. )
• Structure and dynamics of Hot Jupiter Atmospheres (Applicants Dietrich, Wieland ;  Redmer, Ronald ;  Wicht, Johannes )
• Systematic analysis of stellar transit light curves for the characterization of short-period extrasolar planets (Applicant Pätzold, Martin )
• The erosion of planetary atmospheres (Applicant Guenther, Eike W. )
• The formation and detectability of exomoons (Applicant Schäfer, Christoph )
• The Formation and Evolution of resonant planetary Systems (Applicants Dullemond, Cornelis Petrus ;  Schäfer, Christoph )
• The HET Radial Velocity Program for Planetary Systems around M Dwarfs (Applicants Dreizler, Stefan ;  Henning, Thomas ;  Quirrenbach, Andreas ;  Reiners, Ansgar )
• The implementation of consistent planetesimal formation in the population synthesis of Exo-Planets (Applicant Klahr, H. Hubertus )
• The Influence of Strong Stellar Particle Events and Galactic Cosmic Rays on Exoplanetary Atmospheres (INCREASE) (Applicants Grenfell, John Lee ;  Herbst, Ph.D., Konstantin ;  Sinnhuber, Miriam )
• The key physical-chemical processes determining the Composition and Temperature of (exo)planetary atmospheres (Applicants Reiners, Ansgar ;  Rengel, Miriam )
• Towards the true planet statistics of intermediate-mass stars inspecting planet-hosting K giants and F stars (Applicant Döllinger, Michaela )
• Transmission Spectroscopy of Extrasolar Planets (Applicant Schweitzer, Andreas )
• Understanding Radial Velocity Jitter: Benchmark Observations of the Sun (Applicant Reiners, Ansgar )

• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Heike Rauer