Cian O’Toole is a recent graduate in Physics and Astrophysics from Trinity College Dublin. He is currently undertaking a PhD project entitled “Weather on Worlds Beyond Our Own.”

As part of this research, he is utilising unpublished data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope to investigate the atmospheres of directly imaged exoplanets, as well as their free-floating counterparts — young brown dwarfs.

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Over the past three decades, since the first confirmed discoveries of planets beyond our Solar System, the field of exoplanetary science has progressed at a remarkable pace. This presentation will examine how far the discipline has advanced during that time.

The talk will begin with an introduction to the Earth and the planets of our own Solar System, establishing the context for understanding planetary formation and evolution. It will then outline the principal methods used to detect exoplanets, including radial velocity measurements and transit photometry, with discussion of the techniques that have proven most effective.

Attention will then turn to the extraordinary diversity of exoplanets discovered to date. These include ultra-hot “Hot Jupiters” with atmospheric temperatures approaching 2,500°C, potential ocean worlds, and other highly unusual planetary types. The presentation will explain how, following detection, astronomers are able to determine key properties such as mass, radius, atmospheric composition, and thermal structure.

A dedicated section will focus on brown dwarfs, a particular area of research expertise. Brown dwarfs occupy the boundary between stars and planets and are frequently free-floating objects. Unlike exoplanets orbiting bright host stars, they can often be observed directly, free from many of the observational limitations that complicate exoplanet studies. As such, they serve as important laboratories for understanding atmospheric and physical processes under extreme conditions.

The presentation will conclude with a discussion of what can now be inferred about the environments of these distant worlds, including their weather systems, clouds, winds, and auroral activity, illustrating the extraordinary progress made in this field over the past thirty years.

Kevin Street Library

Contact Details
01 222 8488
kevinstreetlibrary@dublincity.ie