[photo credit: Carnegie Science]
At a free public lecture in Pasadena on Oct. 17, the Dartmouth PhD candidate will argue that “ignoring the Milky Way’s role risks misinterpreting why our Sun and other stars exhibit the chemical patterns we observe.”
Rampalli, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, will speak at the William T. Golden Auditorium of the Carnegie Observatories from 12:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Her talk updates traditional research that studies planet formation by linking planet properties to individual stellar parameters—a method Rampalli believes misses galactic environmental impacts.
The Sun is depleted in refractory elements compared to 80 percent of Sun-like stars, puzzling astronomers.
Using Gaia RVS spectra, she and colleagues inferred 13 elemental abundances in 17,000 Sun-like stars and 50 exoplanet hosts.
“The Sun remains refractory depleted regardless of planet host status, challenging planet-driven scenarios,” Rampalli finds. However, deeper analysis revealed “the Sun is chemically ordinary after all.”
Rampalli’s research reveals how exoplanet occurrence changes across galactic environments.
“By integrating Galactic dynamics with stellar chemistry and ages, we can more accurately assess planet formation trends across the Galaxy,” she says. Her team replicated observed clustering of hot Jupiter-type planets, determining such clustering results from varying stellar population fractions rather than truly clustered environments.
The lecture is open to the public and aimed at both specialists and the broader science-minded community.
“We Exist in the Galactic Context: Disentangling Planetary Processes from the Milky Way’s Evolution” will run on Friday, Oct. 17 at 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. William T. Golden Auditorium, 813 Santa Barbara St., in Pasadena. For more call (626) 577-1122 or visit https://carnegiescience.edu/events.
