Rogue Planets & Exomoons with David Kipping

About This Episode

Did we discover an exomoon? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice learn about the search for exoplanets with biosignatures, super Earths & mini Neptunes, and whether rogue planets outside of a solar system could harbor life with astrophysicist David Kipping.

We explore the possible discovery of an exomoon and whether a brown dwarf orbiting a star is a planet or not. Should we update the definition to include more satellite objects? Why do exomoons even matter? We discuss whether the Earth-moon system is common in the universe and how the most common type of planet in the universe is one we don’t have in our solar system. Learn about dimethyl sulfide detected in an exoplanet atmosphere and what it would actually take to make an airtight scientific argument for life beyond Earth.

We explore the atmospheres of super Earths and why rocky planets even slightly bigger than Earth would have very different conditions. Does the Goldilocks zone shift depending on the type of star? What does that mean for Earth’s long-term future as our Sun slowly brightens? Would detecting smog or other technosignatures be more convincing evidence of intelligent life than biosignatures?

Learn how the universe is full of mini-Neptunes, a type of planet our solar system doesn’t have, and binary star systems with planets in stable orbits are far more common than expected. Is our version of a solar system rare? Discover rogue planets: planets that got ejected from their home solar system. How many did our solar system eject? We explore the Roman Telescope and if it could help find rogue planets through microlensing. Could life survive on a planet wandering between the stars with no sun at all? Plus, is there a galactic habitable zone? Could stronger gravity trap a civilization on its own planet forever? Are the unknowns unknown due to our vantage point in the universe?

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