Title: Habitability and the Coming Golden Decades of Exoplanet Observations

Speaker: Feng Tian (Tsinghua)     

Time & place: Thursday, 3:00pm, March 19th, lecture Hall, 3rd floor 

Abstract: 20 years after the discovery of the first exoplanet, scientists on the Earth are at the gate of a new era -- observing planets similar to their own planet in the solar system around other stars, low mass stars in particular. This effort could potentially answer the long standing and arguably the most important scientific and philosophical question to human beings: are they alone in the Universe?

However, such a promising and exciting scientific endeavor is not without hurdles. Currently there is a debate on what types of planets around what types of stars should be considered habitable within the scientific community on the Earth, based on the narrow perspective of life on the Earth. This debate is important because given the limited amount of funding and time available to this intelligent species, only the most promising planets will be selected as the targets for future telescope observations.

In this talk the most recent developments on planetary habitability and exoplanet missions selected by international space agencies on the Earth will be reviewed. It is concluded that despite the uncertainties regarding planetary habitability, a Golden Decades of exoplanet observations will arrive after 2020, which will settle most current debates on planetary habitability and help to better understand some imminent problems faced by the human being society.

Biog: Dr. Feng Tian obtained his PhD in Planetary Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005. He is currently a professor in the Center for Earth System Science at Tsinghua University, Beijing China. His expertise is in the field of planetary atmospheres, planet evolution, and planet habitability. He is a member of the editorial board of Astrobiology, a reviewer for more than 20 journals, including Science and Nature, as well as granting agencies such as NSF. He is the co-organizer of the 2013 CAS-ESA Mars Advanced School, the convener of AGU session "Planetary atmospheres" between 2008 and 2014, and a member of the advisory board of the ELSI-EON Project in Tokyo Institute of Technology. His most recent publication regarding planet habitability can be found at the following link: