Wanted: the next Earth
More than two decades ago, Didier Queloz co-discovered the first planet outside our solar system. Now, the Nobel laureate is on the hunt for Earth's 'twin'.
Add BT as a preferred source
GREAT scientific breakthroughs do not always come on an "aha" moment. In the case of Swiss astrophysicist Didier Queloz, his discovery instead gripped him with fear - that his PhD was a flop. In 1995, Dr Queloz co-discovered an exoplanet - a planet outside our solar system. But back then, hunting for exoplanets was something of a fringe pursuit.
Many believed that no such planets even existed. Scientists who tried to prove otherwise came and went, but exoplanets remained well in the realm of science fiction.
Then a PhD student at the University of Geneva, Dr Queloz had been working on an instrument that could detect motion around stars with precision. While tinkering away at a mountain observatory in Provence, France, his instrument detected 51 Pegasi, a star about 50 light years away from Earth.
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
