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Project Progress

In early July, 2003, a Science paper I was lead author on came out providing strong evidence for an old (~ 12 Gyr) jovian planet in a metal-poor, distant stellar system. The presence of the object had long been suspected; analysis of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data confirmed many aspects of the nature of the system. The result was presented at a NASA Space Science Update (SSU) on July 10th 2003. Followup paper published in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (PASP) Conf Prog in spring 2004, discussed the issues and theoretical concerns in more detail and considered some of the alternative models proposed since the paper.
A letter on prospects for detecting transient electromagnetic signatures from catastrophic planet collision around other stars was published (postdoc lead author), and also presented at conferences. Followup research is planned.
In collaboration with a student (A. Mandell), we published a letter on the survival of terrestrial planets in systems where a Jovian planet has undergone type II migration and discussed the implications for terrestrial planet search strategies. We plan further theoretical follow-up of this issue and related planet formation scenarios.
In collaboration with a student (J. Debes), we started receiving data on a cycle 12 HST project (currently in progress). Preliminary analysis of the data suggests we have found several candidate planets and low mass brown dwarfs around nearby DAZ stars. Follow-up observations to confirm the detections are being requested; if confirmed, we may have made direct-imaging detections of some nearby extra-solar planets. Preliminary results were presented at NAI and Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) meetings.

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