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204 | John Asher Johnson on Hunting for Exoplanets

Jul 18, 2022

Join John Asher Johnson, a Harvard astronomy professor and exoplanet expert, as he dives into the thrilling world of planets beyond our solar system. He discusses groundbreaking detection methods that have led to the discovery of thousands of exoplanets. Johnson explores the complexities of these celestial bodies, their unexpected features, and their chaotic orbits. The conversation also touches on the revolutionary Kepler mission, advancements in technology like the James Webb Space Telescope, and what these findings mean for the future of extraterrestrial life search.

01:15:18

Episode guests

John Asher Johnson

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Episode notes

Intro

4min

Introduction to the MindEscape Picture Scholarship Program

2min

Exoplanet Discoveries: A New Perspective

10min

The Unstable Nature of Our Solar System

2min

Exploring Exoplanets: Discoveries and Challenges

16min

Exploring Kepler's Legacy in Exoplanet Discovery

4min

Exploring Exoplanet Detection Techniques

10min

Understanding the Doppler Effect in Exoplanet Detection

4min

Doppler Dynamics: Unraveling Exoplanet Detection

8min

10.

Exploring Diverse Solar Systems

18min

Recent years have seen a revolution in the study of exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the Sun (or don’t orbit stars at all). After a few tentative detections in the 1990s, dedicated instruments in the 2000s have now pushed the number of known exoplanets into the thousands, enough to begin to categorize their distribution and properties. Today’s guest is John Asher Johnson, one of the leaders in this field. We talk about the various different ways that exoplanets can be detected, what we know about them know, and what might happen in the future.

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John Asher Johnson received his Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently professor of astronomy at Harvard University. He is the founder and director of the Banneker Institute for summer undergraduate research. Among his awards are the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize from the American Astronomical Society. He is the author of How Do You Find an Exoplanet?

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