ASTRODEBATA / Teo Močnik: Unveiling New Worlds with the TESS-Keck Survey

Unveiling New Worlds with the TESS-Keck Survey

Teo Močnik
Gemini telescope in NOIRLab, ZDA

The TESS-Keck Survey is a collaborative effort combining NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the Keck Observatory to discover and characterize exoplanets orbiting nearby stars. TESS identifies potential exoplanet candidates by monitoring the brightness of thousands of stars, looking for periodic dips in light caused by planets passing in front of them. Once TESS identifies promising candidates, the Keck Observatory, with its advanced spectrograph, is used for follow-up observations to confirm the planets and determine their properties, such as size, mass, and orbit. More than 100 planets were carefully selected to address four key science themes: 1) the bulk compositions of small planets; 2) orbital architectures and dynamics; 3) a refined sample for future atmospheric studies; and 4) planets orbiting evolved stars. In this talk, I will outline the workflow of our survey and share exciting new findings.