Planet Occurrence Rates with Kepler: Reaching Towards the Habitable Zone

Dr. Burke will discuss latest results in measuring terrestrial planet occurrence rates using the planet candidates discovered by the Kepler pipeline.

For the first time an accurate model for the Kepler pipeline sensitivity to transiting planets is publicly available. Dr. Burke's new analysis finds higher planet occurrence rates and a steeper increase in planet occurrence ratestoward small planets than previously believed.

In addition, Dr. Burke will identify the leading sources of systematics that remain impacting Kepler planet occurrence rate determinations and approaches for minimizing their impact in future studies.

This work also sharpens our understanding on the dependence of planet occurrence rates on stellar effective temperature with potential implications for understanding the planet formation process.

Speaker:, Christopher Burke, SETI