Lezing Ocean worlds beyond Earth: could they be habitable? (Leiden, in English)

(c) NASA/CSA/ESA/J. Olmstead (STScI)/N. Madhusudhan (Cambridge University)

In deze lezing vertelt Saphira Brandenberger over 'waterwerelden' en wat wetenschappers bedoelen met de 'leefbaarheid' van een planeet. De lezing wordt in het Engels gegeven en is onderdeel van de Kaiser Spring Lectures van de Oude Sterrewacht in Leiden. Hier onder is een Engelse beschrijving te vinden.

We have discovered thousands of exoplanets so far — but one of the most important questions
remains: which of these worlds could host liquid water as a minimal requirement for life, and could
any of them be a true ”Earth 2.0”? In this talk, I will explain what we can measure about distant
planets, what scientists mean by habitability, and why the habitable zone is only part of the story.
We will then look beyond the classic Earth-like picture and explore a surprising class of planets
that seems to be extremely common in our galaxy: Sub-Neptunes — worlds larger than Earth but
smaller than Neptune, and unlike anything in our Solar System. Because their internal structures
are very difficult to pin down with current methods, several different planet types can match the
same observations.

One particularly exciting idea for what these planets could look like is the ”Hycean” scenario:
a Sub-Neptune with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a global ocean. Could such worlds even exist?
And if yes, would they be stable and potentially habitable? I will end by sharing how my research
at Leiden Observatory investigates this question and what we might learn from future telescopes.

Over de spreker
Saphira Brandenberger is masterstudent astronomie aan de Universiteit Leiden.

Deze lezing is onderdeel van de Kaiser Spring Lectures die deze lente op de Oude Sterrewacht in Leiden worden gegeven. Er zijn vijf lezingen door astronomen met als thema One in a Million? Looking for a second Earth. Meer informatie over de Kaiser Spring Lectures is hier te vinden.

Lezing Ocean worlds beyond Earth: could they be habitable?
Saphira Brandenberger (Sterrewacht Leiden)
zaterdag 11 april 2026, 14.00 tot 15.30 uur
Oude Sterrewacht Leiden, Sterrewachtlaan 11, 2311 GW Leiden
Entree € 5,80 euro (€ 6,80 inclusief tour van de Oude Sterrewacht)
Meer informatie en tickets