Why Are Exoplanetary Systems Unlike the Solar System?

NASA's Kepler mission discovered over 4,400 transiting planets around other stars, including over 700 systems with multiple planets. This sample of exoplanet systems enables us to study planetary systems as a population, and test planet formation theory. The results are that our Solar System has a relatively rare configuration, and we don't know why. In this talk, we will explore the expectations of planet formation theory, and the constraints that are now available form observations, as we work toward the goal of understanding how common Earth-like worlds are and finding such cosmic neighbors.

Speaker: Daniel Jontof-Hutter, University of the Pacific

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