Colloquium on Sep. 25, 2025

TTV: a new key to unlock exo-oases for life

Speaker: Leilei Sun (YNO)

Venue: SWIFAR Building 2111

Time: 16:00 PM, Thursday, Jul. 25, 2025

Abstract:

The recent discovery of Kepler-725c—a potentially habitable super-Earth identified via the Transit Timing Variation (TTV) method—makes a significant advancement in exoplanet detection. As the first super-Earth in the habitable zone of a sun-like star inferred solely through TTV inversion, Kepler-725c exemplifies the method’s unique capability to uncover hidden, potentially habitable worlds that have thus far remained elusive to conventional techniques such as direct imaging, transit photometry, and radial velocity methods. This talk will explore how TTV, by analyzing subtle deviations in the transit times of neighboring transiting exoplanets, enables the detection of long-period, low-mass planets in resonant systems—many of which may reside in regions conducive to life. As a powerful alternative in the search for Earth-like worlds, TTV opens new observational frontiers for upcoming missions such as Earth 2.0 and PLATO, and offers a promising pathway toward reshaping our strategies for identifying exo-oases across the galaxy.

Report PPT:  SWIFAR_Leilei Sun.pptx