Centre for Exoplanet Research

The Centre for Exoplanet Research encompasses exoplanet formation and discovery, and observations of transiting exoplanets and brown dwarfs.

The first exoplanets were discovered as recently as the 1990s, and space telescopes such as Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are allowing us to peer into their atmospheres, understanding their composition and energy circulation. Similarly, Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) observations are allowing us to peer through layers of dust and gas around young stars to see planets being born.

We are primarily based in the School of Physics and Astronomy and the Centre brings together theorists involved in planet formation and observational astronomers discovering new planets, and planetary scientists studying exoplanet and Solar System atmospheres and magnetospheres.

We are using our breadth of knowledge and experience to answer questions such as “how and where to planets form?” and “what do exoplanet atmospheres look like?”.