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Session 89 - Searching for Other Planetary Systems.
Oral session, Wednesday, January 17
Salon del Rey South, Hilton
Several techniques have matured during the past year which enable indirect detection of planets orbiting main sequence stars. These methods include: RADIAL VELOCITIES, LONG BASELINE INTERFEROMETRY (astrometric, not imaging), LARGE TELESCOPE ASTROMETRY, TRANSITS BY TERRESTRIAL PLANETS, and GRAVITATIONAL LENSING. Current velocity precision is better than 10 m/s (at several observatories) which enables detection of jupiter-like planets within 5\,AU. Ground-based astrometry by Gatewood achieves a precision of 0.001\,arcsec, sufficient to detect jupiter-like planets orbiting >5\,AU from nearby stars. The above two techniques will soon benefit from larger aperture (Keck, HET, VLT) and superior seeing. Future ground-based interferometric astrometry should be able to detect planets like Uranus and Neptune. Detection of terrestrial planets are possible, in principle, with techniques of transits or lensing. I will review each of the above techniques with regard to instrumentation status and ultimate usefulness. I will report the results to date of on-going projects to detect planetary systems, especially from velocities and single-aperture astrometry. The status of the companion to 51 Pegasus and other reported planets will be described.
