Towards nearby Earth analogues: A golden age of exoplanet exploration By Professor Suzanne Aigrain

In barely 30 years the study of exoplanets has gone from science fiction to a major discipline, and the science driver for the next generation of observatories both on the ground and in space.

In her talk Professor Suzanne Aigrain will take stock of some of the main discoveries since she last spoke to the Society 8 years ago.

And discuss the prospects for and challenges detecting planets capable of supporting life around nearby stars, in particular with the PLATO space mission and the Terra Hunting Experiment (THE) on the ground.

At the end of her talk, she will describe long-term plans for building a large space telescope equipped with a powerful coronagraph, which might enable us to detect signs of biological activity on some of those planets.

Bio: Suzanne Aigrain is a Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford University and a Fellow of All Souls College. Prior to this she was…