Instrumentation for the Detection and Characterization of Exoplanets

In no other field of astrophysics has the impact of new instrumentation been as substantial as in the domain of exoplanets.

Before 1995 our knowledge about exoplanets was mainly based on philosophical and theoretical considerations. The following years have been marked, instead, by surprising discoveries made possible by high-precision instruments. More recently the availability of new techniques moved the focus from detection to the characterization of exoplanets. Next-generation facilities will produce even more complementary data that will lead to a comprehensive view of exoplanet characteristics and, by comparison with theoretical models, to a better understanding of planet formation.

Francesco Pepe, David Ehrenreich, Michael R. Meyer (Submitted on 18 Sep 2014)

Comments: Review article for Nature Insight on exoplanets. (Published version available at: this http URL)

Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)

Journal reference: Nature 513, 358-366 (2014) DOI: 10.1038/nature13784

Cite as: arXiv:1409.5266 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1409.5266v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version) Submission history From: David Ehrenreich [v1] Thu, 18 Sep 2014 11:35:46 GMT (1262kb) http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.5266