Strange Worlds Around Distant Stars - Cosmic Wednesday

Are we alone in the vast universe - or not? This question has intrigued humanity for millennia. For the first time, we have the technologies to search for answers. Astrophysicists have discovered thousands of exoplanets in the last three decades: among them are scorching hot worlds with lava oceans, gigantic gas or water worlds, lonely wanderers without a sun, or systems with multiple stars in the sky. But how can such distant celestial bodies be found, and what do their atmospheres reveal about the possibility of life? Prof. Dr. Katja Poppenhäger, director at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, takes you on an exciting journey through modern exoplanet research. Discover in the planetarium how creative methods make distant planets visible, which discoveries have already changed our perception of the cosmos, and why the home star itself plays an important role in the search for habitable distant worlds. For more information: Website