These include newly discovered exoplanets, potentially habitable worlds, and the challenges scientists face in searching for signs of life in the universe. The first part of Saturday’s (10/10) show will focus on the importance of satellites to modern civilisation and society.

The second will feature a full-length film, The Search for Life. Produced by the American Museum of Natural History, it explores progress scientists have made in searching for life beyond Earth over the past 25 years.

“The show will explore how many exoplanets have been discovered, their sizes, whether they have atmospheres, and whether some orbit within the so-called habitable zone, where liquid water may exist,” said presenter Prof Matie Hoffman. “Scientists consider liquid water one of the basic requirements for life.”

So far, Earth is the only place known to science where life exists, with intelligent life known to exist here. “The question of the existence of life elsewhere in the universe is maybe the biggest in natural science. We want to understand our place in the universe; we want to understand the uniqueness of Earth.”

The only form of life that humans know can exist needs liquid water and temperatures that are not too extreme. 

“We only have one example of a solar system that we can study intensively, and that’s our solar system, which has four rocky planets on which you can stand, with a solid surface,” said Hoffman.

Presenter Prof Matie Hoffman. Photo supplied

“On the outskirts, we have the big gas giants, where there is no solid surface, and it is very unlikely that there can be a form of life. We know of a few of the other planets, especially Saturn and Jupiter, where there may be conditions on their moons where some form of life may exist.”

The question is: how typical is our solar system? Some of the biggest challenges scientists face are detecting these types of planets, which are extremely far away and very dim.

“It helps a lot to get out of Earth’s atmosphere – that is, to place a telescope in orbit, and of course that’s very expensive, but they have done that with Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, and Tess telescope.”

Scientists want to study very dim objects orbiting very bright stars, which are many light-years away, creating significant observational challenges.

Young people will learn more about the universe and the fascinating techniques scientists use to observe it. They will also learn about opportunities to observe celestial objects through powerful telescopes, said Hoffman.

OFM News/Siyakholwa Mbatyazwa cvs

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