Planetary Science Seminar fall-2022

The Kepler mission discovered a new class of rocky exoplanets: those so highly irradiated that their surfaces are melted, and the rock vapor atmosphere is escaping at such a rate that the planet is destroyed in a few Gyrs. These planets provide a unique opportunity to study their interior compositions by observing the escaping atmosphere. I will discuss the physics of this problem, our efforts to place basic constraints and the future with the James Webb Space Telescope.