Understanding the evolution of EXOplanets and towards habitable WORLDs

Project Information

EXOWORLD

Grant agreement ID: 101086149

DOI

10.3030/101086149

EC signature date 15 December 2022

Start date 1 February 2023

End date 31 January 2027

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 533 600,00

Coordinated by

DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUR LUFT - UND RAUMFAHRT EV
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EXOWORLD (Understanding the evolution of EXOplanets and towards habitable WORLDs)

Reporting period: 2023-02-01 to 2025-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

EXOWORLD addresses the urgent scientific need to understand the formation, evolution, and conditions for planet habitability beyond our Solar System. Despite the discovery of thousands of exoplanets, most remain poorly characterised, limiting our ability to interpret their diversity and place our own Solar System into context. The project brings together an international and interdisciplinary network to develop innovative techniques for the detection, characterisation of exoplanet properties, and statistical analysis of planet populations. By training early-career researchers, exploiting cutting-edge space- and ground-based data, and applying novel methods such as machine learning, EXOWORLD will strengthen the foundation for Europe’s leadership in exoplanet science. Its results will help bridge knowledge gaps in planetary system evolution, and strengthen Europe’s capacity to benefit scientifically from missions such as JWST, PLATO, and ARIEL, delivering long-term impact at both scientific and societal levels.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

As part of the project, EXOWORLD used custom pipelines to detect exoplanet candidates from transit surveys, some of which were subjected to follow-up observation campaigns for in-depth characterisation, including the determination of their masses, radii, bulk compositions, projected stellar obliquities (via Rossiter-McLaughlin effect), and atmospheric characterisation (via transmission spectroscopy). The consortium developed machine learning tools to advance transit (and soon also radial velocity) detection methods to improve efficiency of detecting planetary signals. Furthermore, EXOWORLD supported the commissioning of the new radial velocity instrument, PLATOSpec, which will be used to support the high precision radial velocity measurement of exoplanets in the PLATO era. The project also studies exoplanet populations and provides insights on the correlation between planet and host star properties. Collectively, these accomplishments provide a more comprehensive understanding of exoplanet diversity and enhanced Europe’s readiness to exploit data from future space missions such as PLATO.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

EXOWORLD has advanced exoplanet science by developing machine-learning algorithms that improve the efficiency of planet detection and enable the identification of small planetary signals, including monotransits. The project has also conducted in-depth characterisation of both new and known exoplanets, providing precise measurements of their masses, radii, densities, and orbital properties. Selected exoplanets also underwent follow-up atmospheric characterisation. These well-characterised planets provide a robust foundation for studying planet population statistics, allowing researchers to identify correlations between planetary and stellar properties. Such insights place powerful constraints on planet formation and evolution theories, helping to identify the mechanisms that are responsible for the diversity of exoplanet systems. To ensure further uptake, continued development of high-precision instrumentation (such as PLATOSpec), advanced data-processing and modelling capabilities, and interdisciplinary research collaborations will be essential, alongside the creation of software and analysis tools, adoption of open-science practices, and training of early-career researchers. These steps will maximise the long-term scientific impact of EXOWORLD’s advances and reinforce Europe’s forefront role in exoplanet research.