Video: Sustaining life on planet Gliese 581 c

University of Geneva astronomer, Didier Queloz explains why a recently discovered terrestrial extrasolar planet named Gliese 581 c may be able to sustain life.

Didier Queloz is a Geneva-based astronomer with a prolific record in finding extrasolar planets. He is understudy to Michel Mayor. Queloz was a Ph.D. student at the University of Geneva when he and Michel Mayor discovered the first exoplanet around a main sequence star. Queloz performed an analysis on 51 Pegasi using radial velocity measurements (doppler effect), and was astonished to find a planet with an orbital period of 4.2 days.

Although he had been performing the analysis as an exercise to hone his skills, the planet, 51 Pegasi b, challenged the accepted views of planetary formation, being a hot jupiter or roaster.