ASTRO Colloquium with Lisa Dang

Event Date:
2026-11-02T16:00:00
2026-11-02T17:00:00
Event Location:
HENN 318
Speaker:
Lisa Dang, University of Waterloo
Related Upcoming Events:
Astronomy Colloquia
Intended Audience:
Everyone
Local Contact:

Brett Gladman (gladman@astro.ubc.ca)

All are welcome to this event!

Event Information:

Title:

Mapping Alien Worlds: from Infernal to Habitable Worlds 

Abstract: 

Although we will never get the same level of details for exoplanets as we do for Solar System bodies, the large diversity of exoplanets revealed by exoplanet hunting missions, e.g. Kepler and TESS, provide thousands of study cases to refine formation and evolution pathways as well as theories of how their climate is shaped by their environment. Particularly amenable for atmospheric characterization, short-period exoplanets with dayside blasted with stellar radiation are some of the best-characterized exoplanets to this day. Due to their synchronous rotation, they exhibit large day-to-night difference, and their observation can be difficult to interpret without a full understanding of their “3D-ness”. In the past 2 decades, a suite of observational techniques along with new space-based and ground-based observatories with exquisite precision that now allows us to reveal the inhomogeneous nature of these exoplanets and provide a more comprehensive view into their atmosphere, or lack thereof. 

In this talk, I will present what we have learned from observations of a variety of close-in planets ranging from scorching hot exoplanets and how these observational techniques are now used to study temperate rocky planets to investigate their habitability.

Bio:

Professor Dang studies exoplanets strikingly different from our Solar System planets and characterizes their climate with a variety of world class space-based and ground-based observatories, most excitingly with the recently launched JWST. Before the exoplanets era, the architecture of the Solar System’s planets has long been the primary inspiration for planet formation and evolution theories.

Her research interests include exoplanets and their atmosphere characterization, exoplanet cartogrpahy, exoplanetary graviational microlensing, planetary climates and exoplanet demographics. 

Professor Dang’s research interests include using time-series observation of exoplanets to map their emission and characterize their atmospheres using transit and eclipse spectroscopy with space telescopes, detecting the Doppler shifts of planetary signals using high-resolution spectra with some of the largest ground-based telescopes and detecting exoplanets using the gravitational microlensing technique with the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Learn More:

 

Add to Calendar 2026-11-02T16:00:00 2026-11-02T17:00:00 ASTRO Colloquium with Lisa Dang Event Information: Title: Mapping Alien Worlds: from Infernal to Habitable Worlds  Abstract:  Although we will never get the same level of details for exoplanets as we do for Solar System bodies, the large diversity of exoplanets revealed by exoplanet hunting missions, e.g. Kepler and TESS, provide thousands of study cases to refine formation and evolution pathways as well as theories of how their climate is shaped by their environment. Particularly amenable for atmospheric characterization, short-period exoplanets with dayside blasted with stellar radiation are some of the best-characterized exoplanets to this day. Due to their synchronous rotation, they exhibit large day-to-night difference, and their observation can be difficult to interpret without a full understanding of their “3D-ness”. In the past 2 decades, a suite of observational techniques along with new space-based and ground-based observatories with exquisite precision that now allows us to reveal the inhomogeneous nature of these exoplanets and provide a more comprehensive view into their atmosphere, or lack thereof.  In this talk, I will present what we have learned from observations of a variety of close-in planets ranging from scorching hot exoplanets and how these observational techniques are now used to study temperate rocky planets to investigate their habitability. Bio: Professor Dang studies exoplanets strikingly different from our Solar System planets and characterizes their climate with a variety of world class space-based and ground-based observatories, most excitingly with the recently launched JWST. Before the exoplanets era, the architecture of the Solar System’s planets has long been the primary inspiration for planet formation and evolution theories. Her research interests include exoplanets and their atmosphere characterization, exoplanet cartogrpahy, exoplanetary graviational microlensing, planetary climates and exoplanet demographics.  Professor Dang’s research interests include using time-series observation of exoplanets to map their emission and characterize their atmospheres using transit and eclipse spectroscopy with space telescopes, detecting the Doppler shifts of planetary signals using high-resolution spectra with some of the largest ground-based telescopes and detecting exoplanets using the gravitational microlensing technique with the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Learn More: See her faculty and bio from the University of Waterloo Read this article from the University of Waterloo news, "Professor Lisa Dang brings the heat with lava planet research" Meet Lisa in 60 seconds on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wy5Rtinlu6M    Event Location: HENN 318