Dr. Michelle Kunimoto: Kepler, TESS, and the New Age of Exoplanet Discovery

Michelle Kunimoto is an astrophysicist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on exoplanets — planets beyond our solar system — using data from missions such as NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. In this conversation, we discuss exoplanet demographics, occurrence rates, the transit method, planetary evolution, false positives, hot Jupiters, super-Earths, rogue planets, and the enormous datasets transforming modern astronomy. We also explore how astronomers infer hidden worlds through tiny changes in starlight, why our own solar system may be unusual, and how future missions such as the Roman Space Telescope and Habitable Worlds Observatory may reshape our understanding of potentially habitable planets. The conversation also touches on Michelle’s path from UBC to MIT and back again, the role of Star Trek and the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in inspiring scientific curiosity, and the philosophical implications of working in one of the youngest and fastest-evolving fields in astronomy. Recorded live on CiTR 101.9 FM.