Presented by Laura Schaefer


Searching for life in our galaxy means first finding liquid water. Water is found throughout our Solar System in many different forms, but the Earth, because of its balmy temperatures and unique geology, is the only known planet with sailable seas. Astronomers are searching far and wide for other planets that might host liquid water. In their search, they have found thousands of planets around other stars, many of them exotic by Solar System standards, but do any of them have water? We’ll talk about the kinds of exoplanets that have been found and the methods used to detect them. We’ll then talk about how the Earth’s unique geology allows us to have oceans, and apply these models to determine which planets amongst the exoplanet zoo might be able to host the next America’s Cup.

Lecture

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