Study
Study at UCL
Being a student at UCL is about so much more than just acquiring knowledge. Studying here gives you the opportunity to realise your potential as an individual, and the skills and tools to thrive.
Research
Research at UCL
Find out more about what makes UCL research world-leading, how to access UCL expertise, and teams in the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation and Global Engagement).
Engage
Engage with UCL
Discover the many ways you can connect with UCL, and how we work with industry, government and not-for-profit organisations to tackle tough challenges.
About
About UCL
Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 16,000 staff and 50,000 students from 150 different countries.

Planet Formation and Exoplanets

The possibility of planets orbiting other stars has been a topic of fascination for centuries.

We are the first generation that has brought these planets – now known as exoplanets – from the realm of science-fiction into that of science. An important milestone was the discovery of several planets orbiting a pulsar (Wolszczan & Frail, 1992), followed by the first planet orbiting a star more similar to our Sun (Mayor & Queloz, 1995), an achievement recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. The 25 years since have been filled with an abundance of exciting discoveries and today we know over 5000 exoplanets.

Exoplanets Research

exoplanets

Exoplanets Research

The research we are conducting into exoplanets.

Exoplanet Missions

artist's impression of the PLATO mission.

Exoplanet Missions

These are the missions that we are involved in as part of our research into exoplanets.

Resources:

Astrophysics Research:
Publications
Astrophysics Group Page

Connect with Astrophysics:
All Astrophysics News
MSSL Astrophysics Twitter
MSSL Astrophysics Blog

Head of Group:
Prof. Silvia Zane
s.zane@ucl.ac.uk