The Exoplanet Revolution

Didier Queloz traces the transformation of planetary science following the 1995 discovery, with Michel Mayor, of a giant planet orbiting another star. Thousands of subsequent discoveries have revealed planets ranging from gas giants to smaller rocky bodies, stimulated new instruments and changed theories of planetary formation and evolution. The diversity of exoplanet systems challenges assumptions drawn from the Solar System and raises questions about how common systems like ours are. The lecture also considers the possibility of searching planetary atmospheres for evidence of life.