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The Exoplanets and Habitability Group will be involved in four projects that have been awarded with observation time in the third cycle of proposal calls using the Mid InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) onboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), three of them as Principal Investigator. The projects will result in an improved understanding of the characteristics and formation of cold companions.

Forget UFOs and alien abductions, here's how scientists are really looking for life on other worlds.

Physicists at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich wanted to know whether the planned LIFE space mission could really detect traces of life on other planets. Yes, it can. The researchers reached this conclusion with the help of observations of our own planet.

This study aims to identify exemplary science cases for observing N2O, CH3Cl, and CH3Br in exoplanet atmospheres at abundances consistent with biogenic production using a space-based mid-infrared nulling interferometric observatory, such as the LIFE (Large Interferometer For Exoplanets) mission concept.

The ETH-led LIFE space mission aims at the detection and atmospheric characterization of small, temperate exoplanets, to asses if some of them show signs of biological activity, i.e. life outside our solar system.

At its meeting of 6 and 7 December 2023 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed twelve professors and awarded the title "Professor of Practice" once. 

With the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of researchers including members from the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics at ETH Zurich measured ammonia in the atmosphere of a cold brown dwarf, showing that the isotopic abundance of ammonia can be used to study how giant gas planets form.

Lecture Series about selected topics of space research and exploration consisting of individual talks given by different leading experts from academia and industry.

The Exoplanets and Habitability group of the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics was awarded 24h of observing time with the new Infrared instrument ERIS (Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Paranal, Chile.

The project „Quantifying the prospects for characterizing habitable and inhabited terrestrial exoplanets with future observations“ is a joint effort between the research groups of Derek Vance (Institute for Geochemistry and Petrology) and Sascha Quanz (Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics) and will be financially supported by the COPL, Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life.

On June 1^st the facility for the METIS Cryostat integration was handed over.

"Characterizing Substellar Atmospheres in the Era of JWST", Brittany Miles

The Search for Habitable and Inhabited Worlds in our Galaxy, Ravi Kopparapu

Investigating the evolution of the atmosphere of an adolescent Jupiter with the MIRI instrument onboard JWST.

With a constellation of five satellites, the international LIFE initiative led by ETH Zurich hopes to one day detect traces of life on exoplanets. A laboratory experiment in the Department of Physics is now set to demonstrate the planned measurement method.

In a recently published study, we investigated how well the LIFE telescope could characterize a cloudy Venus-like exoplanet.

A bit more than 3 years after the Preliminary Design Review (PDR), it was time for the METIS team to meet ESO review team in the frame of the instrument Final Design Review (FDR) at the ESO Headquarters in Garching (D).

Daniel Angerhausen ist überzeugt, dass Grundlagenforschung gerade in der aktuellen Krise unverzichtbar ist. Trotzdem fragt er sich, ob man die Idee der Nachhaltigkeit nicht auch in die unendlichen Weiten des Alls ausdehnen sollte.

ETH Zurich is opening a new research and teaching centre with a focus on exploring the origin and prevalence of life on Earth and beyond. Under the leadership of Noble Laureate, Didier Queloz, more than 40 research groups from five departments will address the big questions posed by humankind.

The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope is set to take place in the coming days. For ETH Zurich physicist Adrian Glauser, who was involved in two unspectacular but vital contributions to this ambitious project, it will bring to an end a long period of anxious anticipation.

An international team of researchers with participation of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich has succeeded in capturing an image of a very special planet. No known planet orbits a hotter or more massive star system. Some astronomers even considered it impossible for planets to exist in such an environment.

This work, led by Polychronis Patapis, was accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

This year, the European Space Agency (ESA) chose the themes for its large-class science missions for the timeframe 2035-2050. Two of the three chosen themes are ones that the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS is actively involved in with promising projects.

The James Webb Telescope, an international partnership between NASA, ESA and CSA, is due to launch in October 2021. ETH Zurich contributes to the mission through its collaboration with the international Mid- Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Consortium. 

Renowned planetary researcher and Nobel laureate Didier Queloz is moving to ETH Zurich, where he will be joining with other professors to study the origins of life in a new centre.