Thursday, June 1, 2023, 16:00
online
(for the zoom link contact michael.spira@psi.ch, marco.rocco@psi.ch
or max.zoller@psi.ch)
Clara Sousa-Silva, Bard College
Abstract:
Over the last few decades, scientists have found thousands of planets
beyond our own. Some of those planets might be habitable, and perhaps
even inhabited already; but how can we tell? Clara Sousa-Silva looks for
signs of life on other planets using astronomical tools to detect faint
signals emitted by potential alien biospheres. In this presentation,
Clara draws on her experience investigating strange molecules on strange
planets, and her efforts to answer the question: "Would we know life if
we saw it?"
The work presented in this talk combines organic chemistry and quantum
mechanics as tools for the interpretation of astrophysical spectra and,
ultimately, the detection of life on an exoplanet. Whether alien life
will produce familiar gases (e.g., oxygen) or
exotic biosignatures (e.g., phosphine), painting a confident picture of
a potential biosphere will require a holistic interpretation of an
atmosphere and its molecules. In this talk Clara will describe ongoing
efforts to train the next generation of scientists to decipher exoplanet
atmospheres, and ultimately to detect a biosphere through the
identification of atmospheric molecules, in particular those that might
be produced by non-Earth-like life.