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How an astronomer works
Looking through a telescope is a thing of the past. Visit the office of Michael Meyer, Professor at ETH Zurich and member of PlanetS, to find out what his most important tools for creative science are. Just click on the small magnifying glasses that you see on the rectangular areas on the image. Hint: To […]
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CHEOPS made with a 3D printer
Real space enthusiasts would like to own at least a model of spaceships and satellites. Until now the ESA space telescope CHEOPS that is realized under the lead of the University of Bern was available as a paper model only. Now you can print CHEOPS on a 3D printer. You may download data files and […]
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Glancing into the skies
Each month the night sky holds many beautiful and interesting objects that we can observe if the weather gods allow. The focus of this article is on the second half of August and on objects that can be seen by the unaided eye. Instead of hunting exoplanets, we will look out for the brighter planets in […]
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A life elsewhere for children
Although its “Exoplanètes” exhibition is aimed to a wide audience, the Natural History Museum of Geneva is also targeting children by offering them exhibition-related activities. As a partner of “exoplanets” the NCCR PlanetS is therefore organizing activities for children entitled “could we live elsewhere” every Wednesday afternoon in August and September. As a first approach, […]
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The hunt for habitable planets
5 September 2015: Take part in the event «Planetenjagd». How did life originate on Earth? Could life develop elsewhere in the universe? Ask scientists, listen to short lectures, take part in workshops for children and adults – and solve the quiz! Physicists, geologists, biologists, chemists, philosophers and theologians of the «Center for Space and Habitability» CSH, University […]
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An exceptional planetary system discovered in Cassiopeia
Astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and members of the NCCR PlanetS have teased out a secret planetary system hiding in the arms of Cassiopea, just 21 light years away from us. The remarkable system, named HD219134, hosts one outer giant planet and three inner super-Earths, one of which transits in front of the […]
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Strange Worlds
Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz return to Southern France and tell the story of their historic discovery five years after the breakthrough in a TV documentary.
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Conference on habitable planets
„To search for anomalies is the best available strategy to discover the forms of life – on Earth and elsewhere“, concluded Marie-Cristine Maurel, Professor at the University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris who presented a biologist view on biodiversities and habitabilities at the Pathways conference in July 2015 in Bern. Marie-Cristine Maurel is convinced […]
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The Birth of a Planet
Astronomers of PlanetS have confirmed the existence of a young gas giant planet that is still embedded in the gas and dust rich disk around its young host star. For the first time scientists are now able to directly study the planet formation process at a very early stage. For a full night a […]
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A planet disguised as a comet
Astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and members of the NCCR -for National Centre of Competence in Research- PlanetS disco- vered an immense cloud of hydrogen escaping from an exoplanet the size of Neptune. This phenomenon generates like a tail or a head of hair giving it the appearance of a giant comet. Already […]
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