Cornell Department of Astronomy & Space Sciences Fall 2026 Colloquium Series

The Brinson Summer Student Lectures Series:

This Lecture is sponsored by the Brinson Foundation which is a privately funded philanthropic organization that provides an opportunity to focus our family’s common interests in encouraging personal initiative, advancing individual freedoms and liberties, and positively contributing to society in the areas of education and scientific research. https://brinsonfoundation.org/

Title: "From Citizen Science to Flagships: The Future of Exoplanet Characterization with Exoplanet Watch, Pandora, Roman, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory"

Abstract: The search for and characterization of exoplanets requires a diverse array of observational tools, spanning from backyard telescopes to space-based flagships. In this colloquium, I will present a multi-scale approach to exoplanet science, beginning with grassroots community efforts and culminating in our most ambitious future observatories. First, I will highlight Exoplanet Watch and the Pandora SmallSat, demonstrating how citizen science and targeted space missions lay crucial groundwork for larger programs. Next, I will provide a comprehensive update on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, expanding beyond the Coronagraph Instrument to discuss the broader exoplanet capabilities of the mission. Finally, I will look ahead to the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). A major portion of this presentation will feature brand-new results from an extensive trade study evaluating transit spectroscopy with HWO. By simulating clear, cloudy, and hazy exoplanet atmospheres across various spectral resolutions and wavelength bounds, we are actively working to optimize the hardware architecture of HWO. Together, these combined efforts will establish the technical and scientific foundation needed to eventually discover and characterize Earth-like worlds.