Speaker
Description
Giant planets are key architects of planetary systems: they sculpt protoplanetary disks, shape the formation and long-term stability of inner rocky worlds, and likely mediate the delivery of volatiles needed for habitable conditions. Yet the occurrence, architectures, and dynamical impact of cold Jupiters remain only loosely constrained. Our main detection techniques each probe a limited and biased slice of parameter space, so that mature Jupiter/Saturn analogues at several astronomical units are still markedly underrepresented in current exoplanet samples. In this talk, I will review what we currently know about the demographics of cold Jupiters, from occurrence rates to orbital architectures, and highlight a few benchmark systems that anchor our understanding. I will discuss in turn the intrinsic limitations of individual techniques, and then show how combining methods—particularly absolute astrometry, direct imaging, and radial velocities—opens up previously unexplored regions of the (mass, separation) plane across different stellar types and ages. This multi-technique approach is beginning to reveal the true diversity of cold giant planets and will help exploring their role in shaping planetary systems.
