International Scientific Conference on Extraterrestrial Planets

On April 21, at the International Center for Interdisciplinary Science and Education - ICISE, Quy Nhon City (Binh Dinh), 70 astrophysicists from 20 countries and territories around the world attended the Science Conference on Extrasolar Planets.

Professor Michel Mayor talks with scientists on the sidelines of the conference. (Photo: Ly Kha/VNA)

The workshop was chaired by Swiss astrophysicist Professor Michel Mayor.

The workshop is a series of scientific activities within the framework of the 10th Rencontres du Vietnam organized by the Rencontres du Vietnam in France, chaired and founded by Professor of Physics Tran Thanh Van (Vietnamese living in France).

For a week, from April 21 to 25, international scientists will focus on discussing issues that scientists have considered extremely basic questions for thousands of years: That is, whether there is life beyond the Earth or beyond the current solar system.

Opening the conference, Professor Michel Mayor said: “We all have the question of whether the Earth is the only place with life in the universe or whether there are one or more other worlds, other civilizations existing in the universe.” This question has stimulated the development of science and the passion for science in the world, especially astronomy and space science.

Within the framework of the workshop, scientists focused on researching, evaluating and discussing the latest scientific issues in Astrophysics such as: The influence of observed statistical properties on planetary composition models; Statistical properties of exoplanets (planets outside the solar system) observed from the Kepler Space Observatory, discovered and measured from the Keck Observatory; Precise measurements of planetary masses; Studying the properties of small-mass exoplanets; Spectra obtained from the new generation of optical telescopes in the search for Earth-like planets...

In addition, issues regarding new scientific ideas as well as requirements for developing astronomical research equipment were also raised and discussed, such as: Future development of devices to search for Earth-like planets in the Milky Way; Future ground stations; Space research station in Antarctica...

Professor Michel Mayor was the first person in the world to discover an extrasolar planet from the Keck Observatory.

He is also the one who came up with the method of searching for exoplanets, of which so far, humans have found more than 1,000 planets; 1/4 of which were found by Michel Mayor.

Humankind's desire for knowledge to go further and further into the universe is growing. To date, humans have discovered about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, each of which has an average of 10 active planets around it.

Thus, the Milky Way has more than 1,000 billion planets, but only 12 planets are similar to Earth. The only planet that shows signs of having once had life, Mars, is now also lifeless.

Scientists are looking for planets and life beyond Earth and the Milky Way. Scientific evidence shows that there are billions of other galaxies that still exist, but no life or civilization other than humans has been found in them.

Planets in galaxies are hundreds, thousands of light-speed years away from Earth. Therefore, the understanding that humanity is aiming for is considered to solve not only scientific problems but also theological and philosophical problems.

During the conference, Professor Michel Mayor will have a public science talk with a large number of scientists and science lovers in Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh on April 24.

The International Center for Interdisciplinary Science and Education - ICISE was inaugurated in August 2013, is the venue for the Vietnam Meeting in France, regularly organizing activities to publish scientific works and research.

Through that, Professor Tran Thanh Van and Professor Le Kim Ngoc hope to contribute to promoting the development of Vietnam's basic science.

On the occasion of its inauguration, ICISE was the gathering place of 5 Nobel Prize-winning scientists, Professor Ngo Bao Chau (Fields Medal in Mathematics), Professor Rolf Heuer, Director General of the European Center for Nuclear Research, and more than 200 of the world's leading physicists./.

According to VNA