The State of Exoplanet Discovery

Joshua Pepper

Vanderbilt University

The discovery of exoplanets has been racing ahead through the past few yours. We are now entering a new phase in which the outlines of the exoplanet population are coming into focus. I will review the current state of exoplanet discovery, focusing on the many new results from the Kepler space mission, ground-based surveys, and the ways in which our understanding of planet formation and evolution has been revolutionized, and will put our solar system into context. I will discuss my research using small telescopes to discover the most valuable transiting planets which will be of great interest for intensive future study, and will preview how upcoming missions will expand the frontiers of our exoplanet knowledge.