Dimitar Sasselov studies the physics of exoplanets and their atmospheres. With Sara Seager, he modeled how a transiting gas giant's atmosphere would imprint absorption features on the host star's radiation spectrum.
During an exoplanet transit, a small fraction of the stellar light passes through gas above the planetary limb. Strong atomic absorption can therefore make the apparent blocking area depend on wavelength. Their calculation identified promising sodium, potassium and helium features and emphasized the role of cloud height in interpreting the signal.[ref]
Theoretical Transmission Spectra During Extrasolar Giant Planet Transits by Sara Seager and Dimitar Sasselov. Abstract: atmospheric transmission geometry, strong absorption signatures and cloud-depth constraint
Portrait of Dimitar Sasselov
. External portrait hosted by Harvard University Department of Astronomy. Source.
Dimitar Sasselov is a Bulgarian-born astrophysicist known for his work in the fields of astrophysics and planetary science. He is a professor at Harvard University and has played a significant role in studies related to exoplanets, the search for habitable worlds outside our solar system, and the origins of life. Sasselov has also been involved with the Kepler Space Telescope mission, which aimed to discover Earth-like planets in habitable zones around other stars.
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