Name: The search for planets beyond our solar system
Uploaded: 2015-05-28T15:21:08Z
Duration: 16 min 5 s
Description: Every star we see in the sky has at least one planet orbiting it, says astronomer Sara Seager. So what do we know about these exoplanets, and how can we find out more? Seager introduces her favorite set of exoplanets and shows new technology that can help collect information about them -- and even help us look for exoplanets with life.

Membership export 385 2282x (2)

Membership Export 659 2282x (3)

Membership Export 1019 1602x (2)

Membership Export 472 2282x (2)

There's hope for harmony in our divided world, as long as we can shift the way we think. Join Tim Urban to explore how we could build a more connected future.

TP Tim Urban w/ date 5/30/23 

Here I say, "And under that wouldn't be rock, but a form of high-pressure ice, like ice IX." 

I used ice IX to refer to the general category of high-pressure ices because it's a familiar term from Kurt Vonnegut's *Cat's Cradle*, but if GJ 1214b, the planet I'm discussing here, is in fact a water world, its most likely form is ice VII (and possibly ice X) due to the planet's predicted interior temperatures. See the upper left of this [water phase diagram](http://ergodic.ugr.es/termo/lecciones/water1.html).

Every star we see in the sky has at least one planet orbiting it, says astronomer Sara Seager. So what do we know about these exoplanets, and how can we find out more? Seager introduces her favorite set of exoplanets and shows new technology that can help collect information about them -- and even help us look for exoplanets with life.

The search for planets beyond our solar system

Talk details

About the speaker

Learn more

Watch next