Planetary Science Seminar

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a state-of-the-art instrument for directly imaging faint Jovian-mass exoplanets around their host stars. Using advanced data processing algorithms and GPI's precise astrometric calibration, I show GPI can achieve one milliarcsecond astrometry on the extensively-studied planet Beta Pic b. With GPI, we can confidently rule out a possible transit of Beta Pic b, but have precise timings on a Hill sphere transit, and I will discuss efforts to search for transiting circumplanetary material this year. I will also discuss the orbital monitoring of other exoplanets as part of the GPI Exoplanet Survey. Lastly, I will introduce a new program to use the orbits of stellar binaries in moving groups to date the age of moving groups, and thus allow us to better infer the masses of directly imaged exoplanets in these moving groups.