Lines of research: Exoplanetary Systems & Solar System (SEYSS)

Exoplanetary Systems & Solar System (SEYSS)

The area of planetary and solar systems involves several research groups working on Exoplanets, Solar System and Cultural Astronomy. Our main objectives are:

  • The detection and characterization of giant and rocky planets around nearby stars using the most advanced instruments (CARMENES, ESPRESSO, HARPS Norte y Sur, SONG, LCO, MUSCAT2) and space missions (CoRoT, Kepler K2, CHEOPS, TESS and PLATO). The group is particularly interested in the study of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of their host stars where water can be in liquid form.
  • The characterization of the atmospheres of planets to know their structure and composition, both by transits and direct imaging, using ground-based telescopes such as GTC and space missions such as CHEOPS.
  • Investigate the formation of exoplanet systems by studying the chemical composition of planet host stars, and the dynamical evolution of exoplanets at their early stages of formation.
  • Study the physical properties of different families of minor bodies of the Solar System (asteroids, comets, trans-neptunian objects, etc.) to understand the origin and evolution of Solar System with GTC and space missions such as OSIRIS-REx.
  • The study of ancient cosmologies through cultural astronomy and the defense of cultural heritage through the astronomy.
  • News
    A giant planet around a tiny star
    An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the University of Liège and collaborators in UK...
  • News
    A giant planet candidate transiting a white dwarf
    Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets outside the Solar System, most of which orbit stars that will eventually evolve into red giants and then into...
  • Publication
    A giant planet candidate transiting a white dwarf
    Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets outside the Solar System 1, most of which orbit stars that will eventually evolve into red giants and then into...
  • Publication
    A giant planet transiting a 3-Myr protostar with a misaligned disk
    Astronomers have found more than a dozen planets transiting stars that are 10–40 million years old 1, but younger transiting planets have remained elusive. The...
  • Publication
    A He I upper atmosphere around the warm Neptune GJ 3470 b
    High resolution transit spectroscopy has proven to be a reliable technique for the characterization of the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres. Taking...
  • Publication
    A high mutual inclination system around KOI-134 revealed by transit timing variations
    Few planetary systems have measured mutual inclinations, and even fewer are found to be non-coplanar. Observing the gravitational interactions between...
  • Publication
    A hot sub-Neptune in the desert and a temperate super-Earth around faint M dwarfs. Color validation of TOI-4479b and TOI-2081b
    Aims: We report the discovery and validation of two TESS exoplanets orbiting faint M dwarfs: TOI-4479b and TOI-2081b. Methods: We jointly analyzed space (TESS...
  • Publication
    A Hot Uranus Orbiting the Super Metal-rich Star HD 77338 and the Metallicity-Mass Connection
    We announce the discovery of a low-mass planet orbiting the super metal-rich K0V star HD 77338 as part of our ongoing Calan-Hertfordshire Extrasolar Planet...
  • Publication
    A hot-Jupiter progenitor on a super-eccentric retrograde orbit
    Giant exoplanets orbiting close to their host stars are unlikely to have formed in their present configurations 1. These `hot Jupiter' planets are instead...