Exoplanets and life in the Universe

2023-06-15 20:10:03

Dates

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Lieu

Noppius Hall – Opera Complex

Place of the French Republic, 41
4000

Liège

See the map

Schedule

8 p.m. (doors open at 7:30 p.m.)

Prix

Free – Registration required

Astrophysicist, professor at ETH Zurich and at the University of Cambridge, Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 and collaborator within the SPECULOOS consortium, Didier Queloz will give an exceptional conference addressed to the general public at the University of Liège.

he diversity and prolific number of planets discovered orbiting stars has revolutionized our understanding of the nature and formation of planets and the apparent rarity of planetary systems similar to our own. These results make it possible to imagine probing the composition of planetary atmospheres in search of traces of activity linked to the possible emergence of life on them.

At this conference new insights into the origins of life will be presented in the light of recent experiments, as well as a possible long-term way to detect Earth-like systems suitable for study at life distance.

Didier Queloz is an astrophysicist, Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) and at the University of Cambridge. Known in particular for having discovered – with the Pr Michel Mayor – 51 Pegasus bthe first extrasolar planet confirmed as such, he obtained for this discovery the Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 with his colleague.

Since the discovery of 51 Pegasi b, Didier Queloz’s scientific contributions have consisted in making progress in the detection and measurement of exoplanetary systems with the aim of gathering information on their physical structure in order to better understand their formation and their evolution and to compare to our solar system.

Its activity today focuses on the detection of Earth-like planets, establishing a comprehensive research program with the aim of advancing our understanding of the habitability of exoplanets. He is also at the origin of the creation of the Center for the Origin and Prevalence of Life (Centre for Origins and Prevalence of Life – COPL).

Didier Queloz has been working for many years with the University of Liège thanks to his collaboration within the consortium SPECULOOSdirected by Michaël Gillon, FNRS Research Director, at the origin of the discovery of the exoplanetary system Trappist-1Francqui Prize 2021.

Programme

Welcome – Pr Anne-Sophie NYSSEN (Rector of the University of Liège)
Presentation of the research of the SPECULOOS consortium – Michaël GILON (Astrobiology Research Unit / University of Liege)
Conference “Exoplanets and life in the Universe” – Pr Didier QUELOZ (ETH Zurich)
Q&A session

Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Access by the stairs of the “street” entrance located just to the right of the IBIS hotel

Disabled access