
Didier Queloz, who discovered the first extrasolar planet around a Sun-like star together with Michel Mayor in 1995 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019, will be attending the CHEOPS Science Team Meeting at IWF Graz and will give a public lecture on "The Exoplanet Revolution and Life in the Universe" on 30 September 2025.
The diversity and prolific number of planets discovered have revolutionised our conception of the nature and history of planet formation. They have opened up the idea of the possible rarity of planetary systems similar to our own, but also exciting prospects for the potential to probe the atmospheres of planets in search of traces of life. We are living in a historic moment that brings us closer to exploring life in the universe and understanding the origins of life on Earth. The talk will present an outlook of this landscape and will discuss the implications of these recent findings. New insights about the origins of life will be presented in the light of recent experiments about a possible origin of pre-biotic chemical building blocks as well as a possible long-range pathway for detecting Earth-like systems amenable for remote study of life.
Information
WHAT
The Exoplanet Revolution and Life in the Universe
Prof. Didier Queloz, FRS
WHEN
30 September 2025
7 pm
WHERE
TU Graz, HS P1
Petersgasse 16, 8010 Graz
CONTACT
Doz. Dr. Luca Fossati
T +43 316 4120-601
luca.fossati(at)oeaw.ac.at