"Finding an Alien Biosphere with Computational Chemistry"

At the edge of our present scientific frontier lies the question: “Can we identify the signs of life on an exoplanet?”. Establishing whether a planet is habitable, or inhabited, relies both on the observation of an exoplanet atmosphere and, crucially, its subsequent interpretation. This interpretation requires knowledge of the spectral behavior of every significant atmospheric molecule. However, though thousands of molecular candidates can contribute towards the spectrum of an atmosphere,...

1. Annalisa Pillepich (MPIA-HD) "The many diverse manifestations of supermassive black-hole feedback"
   
   Feedback from super massive black holes is commonly invoked in state-of-the-art large-scale cosmological galaxy simulations to halt star formation in massive galaxies. In fact, no other mechanism so far has been shown to be capable of returning entire populations of simulated massive quenched galaxies that are consistent with the observed red sequence and quenched fractions. In this talk, I will use the IllustrisTNG cosmological simulations of galaxies to gain insights and...

Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi (AMNH)  "System architectures as fossils of brown dwarf and giant planet formation"

Brown dwarfs and giant planets share many similarities in their physical properties and atmospheric dynamics, but the most fundamental difference between these two types of objects is the formation pathway that led to their creation. The key to differentiating between formation pathways may lie in their chemical compositions. Recent discoveries have unveiled a number of systems with substellar companions in orbital configurations that are challenging to...