Caroline Piaulet
Université de Montréal
Prof. Björn Benneke
Björn Benneke is a Professor of Astronomy and the Head of the Astronomy Group within the Department of Physics at University of Montreal. He serves as a member of the STScI JWST 20-Year Strategic Initiative Team and the Executive Board of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx). Benneke is known for his leadership in probing the diversity and habitability of planets outside the solar system via observations with the world's most powerful telescopes. He is currently leading one of the largest JWST surveys for exoplanets, specifically to probe the intruiging water-world and sub-Neptune exoplanets. Previously, he has also been the PI of multiple of the largest multi-institutional Hubble Space Telescope programs. Benneke has co-authored over 130 peer-review publications including 15 publications in the prestigous main journal of Nature, 5 articles in Nature Astronomy, and almost 20 in ApJ Letters. Together, his publications have received well over 10,000 citations, with almost 8,000 of these citations within the past 5 years. His pioneering work during his PhD research introduced the now widely used technique of Bayesian atmospheric retrieval to interpret exoplanet spectra, belonging to the most cited atmospheric modeling studies for exoplanets. In 2025, Benneke will start a new research group at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
News
Peterson*, Benneke, et al. 2023, Nature: A volcano-covered terrestrial world outside the Solar System (click on picture for more info)
Piaulet*, Benneke et al. 2022, Nature Astronomy: Two 'water world' exoplanets identified via the Hubble and Spitzer telescopes and detailed atmospheric escape modeling (click on picture for more info)
Prof. Benneke among 8 international scientists selected for the JWST/HST Strategic Planning Inititative Committee (click on picture for more info)
July 22, 2023: Prof. Benneke's research highlighted in DER SPIEGEL (click on picture for more info)
Coulombe*, Benneke, et al. 2023, Nature: 3D characterization of hot Jupiter. The first eclipse map and thermal emission spectrum from JWST (click on picture for more info)
Pelletier*, Benneke, et al. 2023, Nature: Novel technique measures abundances of 11 rock-forming elements on a giant planet. Measurements not even available for the Solar System giants (click on picture for more info)
Current Research
We live at a pivotal moment in human history, one in which our technology has brought us to the brink of answering some of the greatest questions of all: "How did we get here?" and "Are we alone in the universe?" Recognizing this opportunity, the U.S. Decadal Survey now lists "Pathways to Habitable Worlds" as its first top science priority, explicitly stating: "The 2020s and beyond will be an era of spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres".
At this pivotal moment, Prof. Benneke's research group is in a rare position to make the next great leaps in this historic endeavor of exoplanet characterization. He and his team are leading some of the most ambitious observational campaigns using NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope as well as the world's most powerful ground-based telescopes. Using these unique resources, Benneke and his team are currently
1) exploring the prevalence and nature of "water worlds" in the Universe, an intriguing new class of planets with massive envelopes of water or other volatiles,
2) probing the diversity of atmospheres on rocky planets in search of Earth-like climates, volcanism, and biosignatures,
3) developing a fundamental understanding of the physical and chemical processes that govern planetary atmospheres and climate regimes at the most general level, and finally,
4) measuring the elemental compositions of gaseous planets with the ultimate goal of understanding how planets form and how they evolve over time.
Benneke Exoplanet Group - Members
GRADUATE RESEARCHERS
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH STUDENTS
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS IN MONTREAL
- 1375 Ave.Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Complexe des sciences, B-3007, Montréal, QC, Canada
- +1514-343-6111 x 5816
- bjorn.benneke@umontreal.ca