Le 18 octobre 2016
De 14h00 à 16h00
Gael Chauvin, Université de Grenoble
With the development of high contrast imaging techniques and instruments, vast efforts have been devoted during the past decades to detect and characterize lighter, cooler and closer companions to nearby stars, and ultimately image new planetary systems. Complementary to other planet-hunting techniques, the direct imaging approach has opened a new astrophysical window to study the physical properties and the formation mechanisms of brown dwarfs and planets. In this seminar, I will briefly describe the different observing techniques and strategies used in high-contrast imaging and the main samples of targeted nearby stars. I will summarize the main results obtained so far about exoplanet discoveries, the characterization of their physical properties, the planetary system architecture and the statistical constraints set on the planetary formation and evolution mechanisms. Finally, I will present the early results obtained so far with the new generation of planet imager SPHERE of the VLT and the exciting perspectives for the coming years.