The Hintze lectures

The Hintze Lectures highlight contemporary developments in Astrophysics and Cosmology. They are run by the Oxford Hintze Centre for Astrophysical Surveys.

A generous donation by The Hintze Family Charitable Foundation enables world leading researchers to visit Oxford and deliver a lecture as part of this series.

This year, Professor René Doyon, Director of the Mont-Mégantic Observatory and of the Institute for Research on Exoplanets, the University of Montreal, Canada, will deliver the 16th Hintze Lecture on Wednesday 25th April 2018 @ 17:00 in the Martin Wood Lecture Theatre.

Title: The Quest for Nearby Habitable Worlds

Abstract: It is now well established that planetary systems are very common in the Solar neighbourhood, in particular small rocky planets, similar to Earth, around low-mass stars. Thanks to new ground-and spaced-based infrared facilities soon to be deployed, it will be possible not only to find the closest habitable worlds but also to detect their atmosphere and obtain constraints on their composition. This will be a major stepping-stone towards the detection of life outside the Solar system. This lecture will highlight recent exoplanet discoveries and present an overview of on-going and future projects aiming for the detection and characterization of nearby habitable worlds.

The detection of a biosignature, the evidence for biological activity beyond the Solar System, may be just a few decades away.

For previous lectures, click here.

For more information regarding the Oxford Hintze Centre for Astrophysical Surveys, click here.