Exoplanets in our Backyard: A report from an interdisciplinary community workshop and a call to combined action

TL;DR

This white paper reports on an interdisciplinary workshop that united solar system and exoplanet researchers to foster collaboration, share insights, and promote integrated research efforts in planetary science and astrobiology.

Contribution

It documents the first inter-assessment group meeting uniting diverse planetary scientists, highlighting the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and proposing future actions.

Findings

Successful interdisciplinary meeting with 110 scientists and online participants

Fostered new collaborations between solar system and exoplanet researchers

Identified key action items to advance integrated planetary research

Abstract

This is a white paper submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey. The Exoplanets in our Backyard meeting was born out of a recognition of the value and potential of interdisciplinary, cross-divisional exoplanet and solar system research, and to encourage and grow the community of researchers working at this intersection. This first-ever inter-assessment group (AG) meeting (organized by members of the Venus Exploration, Outer Planets, and Exoplanet AGs, or VEXAG, OPAG, and ExoPAG, respectively), successfully brought together solar system and exoplanetary scientists from different backgrounds and NASA divisions, fostered communication between researchers whose paths had never crossed at a meeting before, and spurred new collaborations. The meeting was held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX on February 5-8, 2020 immediately following the OPAG meeting hosted at the same location. The meeting was attended by approximately 110 scientists on site, and 20-30 online participants. The success of this meeting should be capitalized upon and its momentum carried forward to promote fruitful scientific and programmatic discussion, partnerships, and research going forward. This white paper summarizes the meeting, and discusses the findings and action items that resulted.