Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets

Exploring New Worlds

The iREx brings together the best researchers in the field of exoplanets working on current and future major observational astronomy projects, with the ultimate goal of finding life beyond the Solar System.

Discover the Institute

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November 15 2024

Heidi White Honored with the “Permission to Dream Award” for Outstanding Astronomy Outreach

We are thrilled to announce that IREx and OMM Outreach Officer Heidi White has received…

2024
November 14 2024

Alexandrine L’Heureux at the Pan-African School for Emerging Astronomers (PASEA)

The Pan-African School for Emerging Astronomers (PASEA) took place from September 2 to 6 in…

2024
November 1 2024

My time at IREx : Yayaati Chachan

Yayaati Chachan joined IREx in September 2022. He was a CITA National and MSI fellow…

2024
October 30 2024

Alexandrine L’Heureux wins the Lumbroso Grant for IREx Ambassadors in 2024

Alexandrine L’Heureux, IREx member and doctoral student at Université de Montréal, is this year’s recipient…

2024
October 25 2024

My time at iREx: Roseane de Lima Gomes

Roseane de Lima Gomes joined IREx in May 2023 to complete an internship at the…

2024
October 22 2024

Discovery of an Earth-like exoplanet in the habitable zone – Interview with Vigneshwaran Krishnamurthy

Vigneshwaran Krishnamurthy a Postdoctoral researcher at McGill University with the Trottier Institute for Research on…

2024
October 16 2024

Prix Marie-Victorin: another star for René Doyon

René Doyon, professor in the Department of Physics at Université de Montréal, is the 2024…

2024
October 6 2024

Astronomers at IREx Dive Deeper into “Steam-World” Exoplanet GJ 9827 d

A recent paper in Astrophysical Journal Letters, led by Caroline Piaulet-Ghorayeb, a Ph.D. candidate at the…

2024
September 19 2024

Taking a star’s temperature

UdeM astronomers find a way to measure temperature changes in a star with greater-than-ever precision,…

2024
September 12 2024

IREx Researchers Contribute to Stunning New Webb Observations of Star-Forming Cluster in Perseus

Researchers at the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx) are celebrating their contribution to…

2024
September 10 2024

Lisa Đặng at the 73rd meeting of Nobel laureates in Lindau

Lisa Đặng, a Banting postdoctoral fellow who has been with IREx for several years, recently…

2024

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Exoplanets in Numbers

Since the discovery in 1995 of the first planet in orbit around a star other than the Sun, astronomers have confirmed the existence of several thousands of exoplanets. This exciting field of astronomical research is truly booming!

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exoplanet candidates

Exoplanets are detected using several different methods. Over ¾ of all candidate exoplanets have been discovered by the Kepler and TESS space telescopes using the transit method.

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confirmed exoplanets

Other astronomical phenomena such as binary stars or stellar activity can be mistaken for exoplanetary signals. Candidates must be confirmed using multiple observations from different telescopes.

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planetary systems

Like the eight planets in our own Solar System, many of the exoplanets discovered are also found in planetary systems with more than one planet in orbit.

potentially habitable exoplanets

An exoplanet similar to the Earth remains the Holy Grail of our research field. We are, among other things, looking for rocky exoplanets that are found in the habitable zone of their star, meaning they are at the right distance from their star such that it could contain water in liquid form.

Our Team

The iREx includes an expanding team of over 60 people (professors, researchers and students) mainly from the Université de Montréal, McGill University, Bishop's University and the Université Laval, all working on various research programs linked to the study of exoplanets and related fields.

Meet our Members

Join iREx!

The iREx is actively recruiting interns, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, researchers and staff. We promote diversity, inclusion and equity and invite women, members of visible minorities, Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities, as well as people of all orientations and gender identities to join our team.

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