Astrophysics Colloquium - Cold Giants in the Gaia Era

12 Jan 2026
Seminars and colloquia
Time
Venue
Dennis Sciama Lecture Theatre
Denys Wilkinson Building, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH
Speaker(s)

Anne-Marie Lagrange, LESIA Meudon

Seminar series
Astrophysics colloquia
For more information contact

Cold Giants in the Gaia Era

Giant planets likely govern the assembly and long-term stability of planetary systems, including inner rocky worlds. Yet our knowledge is scarcest precisely where Solar System analogs reside, at ~5–30 au, because individual detection techniques (transits, RVs, high-contrast imaging, microlensing) each probe only a biased portion of the mass–semi major-axis plane. 

In this talk, I will present the results of surveys combining Gaia DR3 astrometry (and, when available, Gaia–Hipparcos proper-motion anomalies) with RV and high-contrast imaging. They reveal and characterize new outer companions around young stars, debris-disk systems, and around nearby M dwarfs. These newly identified planets will be prime targets for JWST and ELT imaging and atmospheric follow-up. I’ll finally discuss the potential of Gaia DR4 for exoplanets exploration.