Abstract: Transiting exoplanets, that cross their stellar disk, are of special interest because their allow the determination of their bulk density by measuring both their radius and mass. Characterising transiting exoplanets is very important since it provides unique constraints to the theories of planet formation, migration and evolution. However, the planets that have been detected by the CoRoT and Kepler space missions transits relatively faint stars. The characterisation of the mass of those exoplanets is therefore challenging, especially in the low-mass regime. Those planets have a measured radius, but very poor constraints on their mass. In this seminar, I will present the objective of the search for transiting exoplanets and the methods to characterise them. Then, I will discuss the limitation of those techniques and finally, I will present the perspectives for the future exploration of the planet density's diversity.
Alexandre Santerne (CAUP)