Planetesimals here, there and everywhere: Meteorites as analogs for planetesimals in extrasolar systems

Meteorites provide a link for understanding how planetary building blocks, or planetesimals, influence the compositions of exoplanet atmospheres. I will discuss an experimental approach to precisely determine the composition of gases released from heating meteorites and the implications of this work for exoplanet atmosphere models (Thompson et al., in review). This work assumes that meteorites can be used as analogs for planetesimals in extrasolar systems. I will examine this assumption in detail.