Nikku Madhusudhan: Chemical diversity of temperate exoplanets and implications for life elsewhere

Professor of Astrophysics and Exoplanetary Science at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Invented the now widely used technique of atmospheric retrieval to infer atmospheric chemical compositions of exoplanets. He contributed other important developments in the understanding of the atmospheres, interiors, formation conditions, and habitability of exoplanets. Most recently, his work led to the theoretical possibility of a new class of habitable planets, called Hycean worlds, and to the first detection of carbon-bearing molecules in a habitable-zone exoplanet, K2-18b, using the James Webb Space Telescope.

Nikku Madhusudhan's professional home page

Abstract: The search for life elsewhere is one of the major frontiers in modern astronomy. In this talk, we will discuss observational and theoretical developments in the atmospheric characterisation of temperate low-mass exoplanets, and habitable exoplanets in particular. Considering a few case studies, we will present inferences of the atmospheric chemical composition and constraints on the temperature structure, clouds/hazes, chemical disequilibrium and interior/surface conditions. We will discuss the chemical diversity of temperate sub-Neptunes and future prospects in the search for habitable environments and biosignatures in exoplanets over the next decade.