Planets with Two Suns: The St. Louis Astronomical Society January Meeting

Binary stars, which are two suns orbiting each other, offer a unique window into how planets form and survive in complex environments. In this talk, Dr. Esmer will explore how astronomers study these systems and search for their planets using a powerful technique called eclipse timing variations (ETVs). By carefully measuring tiny shifts in the timing of stellar eclipses, even with modest telescopes, astronomers can uncover hidden planets and learn about stellar interactions, evolution, and magnetic activity. Because ETV studies rely on long-term monitoring, they provide an exciting opportunity for contributions from both professional and amateur observers.

Dr. Ekrem M. Esmer is a McDonnell Center Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Physics at Washington University in St. Louis, where he studies planets orbiting binary star systems. He earned his PhD in Astrophysics from Ankara University in Turkey, focusing on the orbital dynamics and stability of planets in multiple-star environments. His current research combines space telescope data and advanced analysis techniques to search for and characterize circumbinary planets. One goal is to understand how abundant such worlds are in our galaxy.

The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals interested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to attend its meetings, telescope observing sessions, and special events. For more information about Astronomical Society events, please visit www.slasonline.org.

Free parking will be available.

Header image: An artist's illustration shows that the stars in the TOI 1338 system make an eclipsing binary — they circle each other in our plane of view. If you could hover near the planet TOI 1338 b, you would see an eclipse every 15 days. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)