I’m on a research visit to Scotland this week. I’m giving the lunch talk at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh and the exoplanet seminar talk at the University of St. Andrews. Talk title and abstract:

“Understanding exoplanets and their stellar environment”

Exoplanets do not exist in a vacuum, they are embedded into the environment created by their host stars, which means that they are affected by radiation fields, stellar winds, and magnetic phenomena. Since we aim to understand how exoplanets evolve over time, and especially how their atmospheres, chemistry, and potential habitability develop, we need to investigate the stellar behaviour. I will discuss recent results concerning exoplanets and the stellar environment: 1) how we can use stellar activity measurements for old main sequence stars to estimate ages of exoplanet systems more reliably; 2) how stellar activity can be modified by Hot Jupiters through tidal and magnetic interactions; and 3) if megaflares on M dwarfs occur often enough to have a significant on habitability on exoplanets in the nominal habitable zone.

I also had some time to walk around Edinburgh, so I walked up Carlton Hill to see the old city observatory.