ITC Colloquium - Mercedes Lopez-Morales (CfA)

"The Path to Detecting Molecular Oxygen in Exoplanets"

We are just at the doorsteps of discovering the first potentially earth-like planet. Once discovered, those planets will immediately become the focus of detailed atmospheric characterization. Molecules such as H2O, CH4, CO, or CO2 will be best searched for from space. Molecules such as O2 and O3, on the other hand, will be harder to detect. This talk will highlight ongoing and future work centered around optimizing the search for O2 in earth-like planets around nearby stars using high-resolution, doppler velocity techniques.