[PLS] Yifan Zhou (UVA)

*Note: special date and time!

“Dynamical Processes in Planetary Atmospheres: A Time-Resolved Perspective”

Planetary atmospheres are highly dynamic systems. Atmospheric circulation, cloud formation, and radiative transfer drive persistent variability. The discovery and characterization of exoplanets have dramatically expanded our ability to study these dynamical processes across multiple dimensions. These dimensions include evolutionary stage, energy budget, and rotation rate. Time-resolved direct spectroscopy provides the most powerful tool for tracing atmospheric dynamics. My group uses this approach to observe planetary and substellar objects across a wide range of evolutionary stages. This allows us to identify and characterize the physical processes that shape these worlds. In this talk, I will present case studies using high-precision monitoring data from HST and JWST. These studies probe accretion processes in forming protoplanets, atmospheric dynamics in mature giant planets and brown dwarfs, and rotation measurements of directly imaged exoplanets. I will also discuss one particularly revealing case: highly irradiated substellar companions to white dwarfs. These objects play a critical role in bridging different regimes of atmospheric physics and offer unique insights into post-main-sequence planetary systems. I aim to initiate new collaborations with experts across these fields to develop a unified framework for understanding atmospheric dynamics throughout planetary evolution.

Planetary Lunch Seminar —

Colloquia topics span the range of research interests of the department’s planetary sciences research program, and the talks are intended to appeal to any graduate students, postdocs, research scientists, and faculty with a background in planetary science. Speakers include members of the MIT community and visitors.

Contact: planetary-org@mit.edu