The seach for terrestrial planets orbiting around other stars
The first planet orbiting a star other than our Sun was found in 1995. With this fundamental discovery, the eternal question of the cosmic uniqueness of our life-bearing Earth was removed from the realm of pure speculation and put on a firm scientific basis.
Immediately, astronomers all over the world began collaborations to extend this basis and to interpret the newly obtained observational results. To date, more than one hundred extrasolar planets are known. These are all »giant planets«, similar to (or even larger than) Jupiter. They are also located quite close to their parent stars, simplifying the detection process. Because of their size and proximity to their suns, these planets are not likely to harbour life. Finding planets similar to the Earth is considerably more difficult, and so far, none are known outside our solar system.
The detection of terrestrial extrasolar planets and the detailed study of the conditions prevailing on their surfaces (including the potential presence of life) will require a variety of technological breakthroughs. Both ESA in Europe and NASA in the United States have accepted this challenge and are preparing two extremely demanding international space missions: »DARWIN« (ESA), and »Terrestrial Planet Finder« (NASA). Both missions are planned for the year 2014.
In order to prepare for these missions, scientists and engineers from a variety of fields will be working together in international consortia. To coordinate this work, a series of conferences has been conceived, the first of which will be held in Heidelberg in April 22–25,2003. The conference, organized by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, is entitled:
Toward other Earths
DARWIN, TPF
and the Search for Extrasolar Terrestrial Planets
The following areas will be covered at this meeting:
- Planet search methods
- Earlier projects and their role as precursors for DARWIN / TPF
- Planet formation and evolution
- Astrobiology in the context of DARWIN / TPF
- Technological developments for DARWIN / TPF
Prominent scientists, experts in space technologies, representatives of the space agencies and industrial firms from all over the world have announced their participation. Confirmed speakers include:
Prof. Steven Beckwith (STScI, Baltimore)
Prof. Charles Beichman (JPL, Pasadena)
Prof. Pascale Ehrenfreund (Leiden)
Prof. Martin Harwit (Washington)
Prof. Michel Mayor (Genf)
Prof. Alain Léger (Paris)
The conference will be held in the Heidelberg Conference Center.
A Press conference will take place on Wednesday, April 23, 2003, from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. at the Conference Center. Participants will include:
Prof. Thomas Henning (Heidelberg), Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Prof. Michel Mayor (Genf), the discoverer of the first extrasolar planet
Prof. Malcolm Friedlund (ESA), Project scientist for DARWIN
Prof. Charles Beichman (Pasadena, USA), Project scientist for TPF
Prof. Jill Tarter (Mountain View, USA), Director of the SETI Institute
A public lecture, by Jill Tarter, Director of the SETI Research Institute (SETI = Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), will take place on Tuesday, April 22, at 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. The title of the lecture will be:
»SETI: Science Fact, Not Fiction«.
Detailed conference program and futher information: http://www.mpia.de