Travis Barman (Lowell) : Clouds and Chemistry in the Atmospheres of HR8799b and 2M1207b

Direct imaging is a straightforward method for finding giant planets and is biased toward the earliest (and arguably the most interesting) stages of planet evolution. Early results from direct imaging surveys have already revealed several exciting discoveries and I will present work focused on two: the young (< 50 Myr) planets HR8799b and 2M1207b. These planets are among the reddest substellar objects in near-IR color-magnitude diagrams and show peculiar spectral properties. Furthermore, both planets deviate significantly from pervious theoretical atmospheric predictions and I will present a few possible explanations for their appearances.