The Cool KOI Program: Small Stars with Small Planets

Abstract: The field of extrasolar planets is rapidly evolving.  The quest to discover ever-more and ever-smaller exoplanets has pushed the field in two primary detections: 1) toward a comprehensive assessment of the frequency and statistics of various types of exoplanets--used as a guide for planet formation and evolution theories--and 2) toward characterizing the composition, atmosphere and evolution of individual exoplanets as though they were planets in our own Solar System.  I will discuss the importance of low-mass stars in this context, emphasizing the phenomenal results from the Kepler Mission, and our efforts to characterize individual terrestrial exoplanets orbiting low-mass stars.  Specifically, I will discuss the validation and characterization of the KOI 961 system, consisting of a low-mass star with three short-period, sub-Earth-sized exoplanets, one of which is Mars-sized.