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Welcome to the Exoplanets and Astrobiology Scientific Area 6 of the Centro de Astrofísica y Tecnologías Afines (CATA)
Welcome to the Exoplanets and Astrobiology Scientific Area 6 of the Centro de Astrofísica y Tecnologías Afines (CATA)
The CATA Exoplanets and Astrobiology Area aims to tackle current questions related to the solar system and exoplanets, with the goals of exploring the origins of rocky planets and the possible presence of life beyond Earth. By enhancing synergies between the group members and collaborators, we aim to strengthen and extend the above research lines and connect them to the interdisciplinary and incipient field of astrobiology.
The CATA Exoplanets and Astrobiology Area aims to tackle current questions related to the solar system and exoplanets, with the goals of exploring the origins of rocky planets and the possible presence of life beyond Earth. By enhancing synergies between the group members and collaborators, we aim to strengthen and extend the above research lines and connect them to the interdisciplinary and incipient field of astrobiology.
Group Members
Group Members
Principal Investigators: James Jenkins (UDP) and Dante Minniti (UNAB)
Associated Researchers: Claudio Cáceres (UNAB), Cristina Dorador (UA), César Fuentes (UCh), Cristóbal Petrovich (PUC), Bárbara Rojas-Ayala (UTA), and Millarca Valenzuela (UCN)
Principal Investigators: James Jenkins (UDP) and Dante Minniti (UNAB)
Associated Researchers: Claudio Cáceres (UNAB), Cristina Dorador (UA), César Fuentes (UCh), Cristóbal Petrovich (PUC), Bárbara Rojas-Ayala (UTA), and Millarca Valenzuela (UCN)
CATA Exoplanet & Astrobiology Projects
CATA Exoplanet & Astrobiology Projects
1. The Search and Characterization of Planetary Systems in the Galaxy
1. The Search and Characterization of Planetary Systems in the Galaxy
The Search for Extreme Exoplanets
The Search for Extreme Exoplanets
What is the Origin of the Ultrashort Period Planets?
How does the intense radiation field lead to the Neptune Desert, and are effects like Roche Lobe Overflow important?
Missions/Instruments: TESS/PLATO/HARPS/ESPRESSO
Leaders: Jenkins and Petrovich.
The Physics of Exoplanet Atmospheres
The Physics of Exoplanet Atmospheres
What are the structure and physical processes of the most extreme exoplanets?
What are the typical chemical constituents in the atmospheres of the smallest planets?
Missions/Instruments: ESPRESSO/CHEOPS/NIRPS /JWST
Leaders: Jenkins, Caceres, and Fuentes
The Emerging Population of Cold Gas Giants
The Emerging Population of Cold Gas Giants
How common are outer Gas Giant planets?
What is the distribution of giant planets beyond a few AUs, and what is their origin?
Missions/Instruments: Gaia/SPHERE/Optical RVs/Microlensing
Leaders: Jenkins and Petrovich
Using photometric techniques to discover exoplanets and exomoons
Using photometric techniques to discover exoplanets and exomoons
How can near-IR surveys help to complete the planetary census of our galaxy?
What are the best strategies for finding planets using transits and microlensing?
Can we detect transits in the faintest objects (MDs, BDs, WDs)?
How can we use the microlensing technique discover exoplanetary moons?
Missions/instruments: VVVX/VIRCAM/Gaia/ Microlensing
Leader: Minniti
The search and characterization of free-floating planets in the Milky Way
The search and characterization of free-floating planets in the Milky Way
How do free floating planets form and evolve?
Do the free floating planets outnumber the bound exoplanets?
What is the binary frequency among free-floating planets?
Missions/instruments: VVVX/VIRCAM/ Gaia/Roman
Leaders: Caceres and Minniti
2. Stellar Astrophysics and its Connection to Planet Formation and Evolution
2. Stellar Astrophysics and its Connection to Planet Formation and Evolution
The M dwarf Planet Fraction versus Metallicity
The M dwarf Planet Fraction versus Metallicity
What is the distribution of exoplanets orbiting M dwarfs as a function of metallicity?
Does planet mass correlate to host star metallicity?
Does the metallicity bias towards the most metal-rich stars hold for the smallest stars?
Missions/Instruments: XSHOOTER/NIR and Optical Spectroscopy
Leaders: Jenkins and Rojas Ayala
Understanding the Chemistry of Cool Star Atmospheres
Understanding the Chemistry of Cool Star Atmospheres
How well do we understand the chemical abundances in M dwarf atmospheres?
Can we relate NIR spectroscopic abundances to those in the optical?
Are the radii of M dwarfs poorly understood, and how can we benchmark structure models?
Missions/Instruments: XSHOOTER/APOGEE/NIR and Optical Spectroscopy/SDSS-V
Leaders: Rojas Ayala and Jenkins
Completing the low mass end of the local luminosity function
Completing the low mass end of the local luminosity function
How to best confirm membership in young nearby stellar associations?
How many and what kind of faint nearby objects are missing in the Solar vicinity?
How can we characterize them efficiently using deep near-IR surveys?
Missions/instruments: VVVX/VIRCAM/Gaia/Roman
Leaders: Minniti and Caceres
3. From Proto-planetary Disks to Mature Planetary Systems
3. From Proto-planetary Disks to Mature Planetary Systems
Proto-planetary Disk Structures
Proto-planetary Disk Structures
How does proto-planetary disk evolution depend on environment/planet formation?
How does the presence of giant planets in these young disks affect the disk morphology?
What is the nature of circumplanetary disks around young/forming planetary-mass objects?
Missions/Instruments: ALMA/MUSE/NIR interferometry/Simulations
Leaders: Caceres & Petrovich
Proto-planetary Disks and Multiplanet Systems
Proto-planetary Disks and Multiplanet Systems
Can dynamical models explain the structures encountered in proto-planetary disks?
How flat are planetary systems?
Missions/Instruments: Simulations/HARPS/ESPRESSO
Leaders: Petrovich & Jenkins
4. How Unique is the Solar System
4. How Unique is the Solar System
Populations in the Solar System
Populations in the Solar System
What are the origins of minor body populations in the Solar System?
What can TNOs and Dwarf Planets teach us about the formation of the Solar System?
What is the typical chemical composition of different populations of meteorites?
Does Planet 9 really exist?
Missions/Instruments: TESS/DECam/Meteorites/MLTechniques/Ruben
Leaders: Fuentes & Valenzuela
Connecting the Chemistry of Meteorites and Proto-planetary Disks
Connecting the Chemistry of Meteorites and Proto-planetary Disks
Can the chemical composition of meteorites inform us on the species present in proto-planetary disks?
Are the different isotopes of chemical species in the Solar System common throughout the galaxy?
Missions/Instruments: Laboratory Meteorites/RT Models
Leader: Valenzuela
5. Habitable Planets and Astrobiology
5. Habitable Planets and Astrobiology
The Search for Habitable Planets in the Galaxy
The Search for Habitable Planets in the Galaxy
To what extent is the Earth unique?
What is the true value of ε Earth?
What is the distribution of Habitable Planets as a function of stellar mass and metallicity?
What are the best environments to search for planets suitable to host exolife?
Missions/Instruments: TESS/PLATO/HARPS/ESPRESSO/VVVX/Ruben
Leaders: Jenkins & Minniti
Understanding how the Solar System gave rise to Life
Understanding how the Solar System gave rise to Life
What can we learn about life from studying the chemical composition of pristine meteorites?
Is the Solar System a special place when we compare to exo-stellar chemistry?
Mission/Instruments: Antartic Expedition/Meteorite Laboratory
Leaders: Valenzuela
Serendipitous discoveries and rare objects in our Galaxy
Serendipitous discoveries and rare objects in our Galaxy
How can we find rare systems like Boyajian's stars and Mamajek's objects?
Are there other kinds of systems that defy classification?
How does our civilization stand in the Galactic context of advanced civilizations?
Missions/instruments: VVVX/VIRCAM/Gaia
Leaders: Minniti and Caceres
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