When Worlds Collide: Inauguration of the Munich Center for Geoastronomy

5 Oct 2026, 09:00 → 6 Oct 2026, 16:30 Europe/Berlin

A 140 (LMU Main Building (Hauptgebäude))

Kevin Heng (Munich Center for Geoastronomy, LMU), Yan Lavallée (Munich Center for Geoastronomy, LMU)

Event details

From the formation of planets and planetary evolution, to the forces that shape worlds near and far, Geoastronomy explores the intersections where disciplines - and worlds - collide. Join us for the official inauguration of the Munich Center for Geoastronomy - a 2-day event dedicated to bridging the connections between Earth and the cosmos under the theme “When Worlds Collide”. 

Programme

The event features a series of public keynote talks by world-renowned international scientists/authors and scientific talks by local experts from across geosciences, planetary sciences, and astrophysics. Through accessible presentations and lively discussions, our speakers will share insights into some of the most profound questions and cutting edge developments in modern earth and space sciences. 

Keynote Talks: 

To See a World in a Point of Light: The Past, Present, and Future of Exoplanet Detection

• Prof. Joshua Winn (Princeton, USA)

Volcanic Outgassing Across Time and Space

• Prof. Marie Edmonds (Cambridge, UK)

Searching for Alien Earths

• Prof. Lisa Kaltenegger (Carl Sagan Institute, USA)

The First Minerals and Rocks of the Solar System

• Prof. Marc Chaussidon (IPGP, France)

Bridging Stars to Planets: Geoastronomy with Brown Dwarfs

• Prof. Adam Burgasser (UC San Diego, USA)

Short Scientific Talks: 

Photosynthesis as an Engineering Problem

• Prof. Stephen Mojzsis (Bavarian Geoinstitute, Bayreuth)

Planetary surface constraints on Volcanic degassing

• Dist. Prof. Donald Dingwell (LMU, Munich and Hangzhou International Innovation Institute)

The HECATE space mission: a German Helium Geocorona and Atmosphere Exploration Satellite

• Dr. Frank Grupp (LMU and MPI-Extraterrestrial Physics, Munich)

Probing the subsurface of planetary objects

• Prof. Heiner Igel (LMU, Munich)

Landscapes of other worlds: Towards mapping exoplanet atmospheres

• Cyril Gapp (LMU, Munich)

Audience

This event is open to everyone, and from all disciplines and faculties - whether you are a student, scientist, educator, administrator, someone passionate about science or simply curious about the cosmos and our place within it. This event offers a unique opportunity - not just to engage with and learn from ideas and discoveries, but also to network with the people shaping some of the most exciting frontiers in science today. 

We warmly welcome you to join us for this celebration of worlds - from Earth to Exoplanets! 

Registration (now closed)

Attendance to this event is free. However, registration is required.

Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge the Origins Excellence Cluster as a co-organizer of this event and thank them for their financial support.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notice:
Photographs and/or video recordings will be taken during the event for public relations, communication and documentation purposes, and may be published on our website, in printed matter and on our social media and professional networking channels (e.g. LinkedIn).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Keynotes MCGA Inauguration_Keynote Talks and Abstracts MCGA Inauguration_Keynote Talks and Abstracts.pdf

Poster MCGA Inauguration Poster (A4).pdf

Scientific Talks MCGA Inauguration_Scientific Talks and Abstracts MCGA Inauguration_Scientific Talks and Abstracts_2.pdf

Monday 5 October

09:00 → 10:00 Welcome - Registrations with Coffee/Tea

10:00 → 10:30 Welcome speech | Co-Directors of the Munich Center for Geoastronomy

Speakers: Prof. Kevin Heng (LMU, Munich), Prof. Yan Lavallée (LMU, Munich)

10:30 → 11:30 Keynote Talk: To See a World in a Point of Light: The Past, Present, and Future of Exoplanet Detection

A distant star appears as a single point of light - yet hidden within that light can be the signatures of an entire planetary system, if you know how to look. Astronomers have found thousands of planets by measuring tiny shifts, dips, and blips in the light from distant stars, using techniques that range from simple geometry and optics to Einstein’s general theory of relativity. This lecture will explain the main detection methods, describe some of the surprising planetary systems they have revealed, and look ahead to the next phase of discovery.

Speaker: Prof. Joshua Winn (Princeton University, USA)

Gas giant planet HD 209458b (unofficially named Osiris) located 150 light-years away in the constellation Pegasus.png

11:30 → 13:00 Lunch Break

13:00 → 14:00 Keynote Talk: Volcanic Outgassing Across Time and Space

Volcanic degassing is the principal mechanism for the transfer of volatiles from the interior of a planet to its surface. In this talk I will discuss the role that volcanoes play, over geological time and across our solar system, in the development of atmospheres, in regulating climate and in the delivery of elements to the planetary surface that are critical for life.

Speaker: Prof. Marie Edmonds (Cambridge University, U.K.)

Volcanic outgassing across time and space.jpg

14:00 → 15:00 Keynote Talk: Searching for Alien Earths

For thousands of years, humans have wondered whether we're alone in the cosmos. Now, for the first time, we have the technology to investigate. But once you look for life elsewhere, you realize it is not so simple. How do you find it over cosmic distances? What actually is life?

As founding director of Cornell University's Carl Sagan Institute, astrophysicist Lisa Kaltenegger has built a team of tenacious scientists from many disciplines to create a specialized toolkit to find life on faraway worlds.

Using our homeworld as a Rosetta Stone, the biggest space telescopes, creatively analyzing Earth's history and its astonishing biosphere to inform this search we discover not merely new continents, like the explorers of old, but whole new worlds circling other stars and how we could spot life there. Worlds from where aliens may even be gazing back at us. What if we're not alone?

Speaker: Prof. Lisa Kaltenegger (Cornell University and Carl Sagan Institute, U.S.A)

Searching for Alien Earths.png

15:00 → 15:30 Scientific Talk: Photosynthesis as an Engineering Problem

Nearly half a century ago, NASA defined the specific wavelength of the vegetation Red Edge - the sharp, sudden increase of plant reflectance between the red and infrared regions of the light spectrum. Although the Red Edge is now routinely used as an indicator of chlorophyll concentration and plant stress, a molecular-level understanding of this global-scale phenomenon remained elusive. Combining expertise in geobiology, physics, astronomy, and planetary chemistry, we report the first multi-scale description of the origin of the Red Edge on Earth, unveiling additional spectral features that have only recently been verified. Extending our understanding toward exoplanets orbiting distant stars, we predict a direct relationship between stellar properties and the photosynthetic life that could have evolved on exoplanets.
Our predictions will be tested in the coming years as ground- and space-based observatories continue to aim toward characterizing distant exoplanets.

Speaker: Prof. Stephen Mojzsis (Bavarian Geoinstitute (BGI), Bayreuth)

15:30 → 16:30 End of Session, Coffee/Tea and Networking

Tuesday 6 October

09:00 → 10:00 Welcome - Registrations with Coffee/Tea

10:00 → 11:00 Keynote Talk: The First Minerals and Rocks of the Solar System

One of the major unknowns regarding the early evolution of the solar system is how the first solids and rocks formed from the initial mixture of gas and dust inherited from the parent molecular cloud. Clues are provided by combining observations of the mineralogical, chemical, and isotopic composition of the components of primitive meteorites with astrophysical models of the accretion disk.

Speaker: Prof. Mark Chaussidon (IPGP, Paris, France)

Primitive Chondrite Allende.png

11:00 → 12:00 Keynote Talk: Bridging Stars to Planets: Geoastronomy with Brown Dwarfs

Between the highest-mass planets and lowest-mass stars, there exists a liminal population of brown dwarfs. Co-discovered with the first extrasolar planets, these objects have diverse formation channels and planetary-like atmospheres. In this talk, I describe how modern studies of brown dwarfs require deep connections between stellar and planetary science, from formation to evolution to atmospheric processes; and discuss how this science will help us to better understand the origin and evolution of our broader Milky Way.

Speaker: Prof. Adam Burgasser (UC San Diego, USA)

An artists concept of a brown dwarf, in one of whose clouds scientists have detected traces of the molecule phosphine.png

12:00 → 13:30 Lunch Break

13:30 → 14:00 Scientific Talk: Planetary surface constraints on Volcanic degassing

The surface conditions of planetary bodies vary greatly. They will have a direct influence on the physics of volcanic degassing. Thus defining the physics focussed by the atmospheric target is a central task of planetary physical volcanology. We will explore the possibilities in this talk.

Speaker: Prof. Donald Dingwell (LMU, Munich/Hangzhou International Innovation Institute)

14:00 → 14:30 Scientific Talk: The HECATE space mission. A German Helium Geocorona and Atmosphere exploration satellite

HECATE is our proposal to investigate the Helium Geocorona, the highly dynamical major source of drag on spacecrafts in LEO-MEO orbits. Utilizing a high resolution UV-VIS spectrometer we plan to use the Earth as a proxy for exoplanets and answer question related to solar activity, metal enrichment and geolocial processes in the earths upper atmosphere.

Speaker: Dr Frank Grupp (LMU and MPI-Extraterrestrial Physics, Munich)

14:30 → 15:00 Scientific Talk: Probing the subsurface of planetary objects

Probing the subsurface of planetary objects is tremendously important not only to understand their evolution but also to determine structures that are relevant for future missions such as ice-bearing rocks or lava tubes on the moon. We show re-analysis of Apollo 17 data using seismic background noise that originates from thermal cracking and interferometric methods to determine near surface structure. We propose strategies for lunar exploration with autonomous sensors that use AI-based methods to determine their experimental configuration in an optimal way.

Speaker: Prof. Heiner Igel (LMU, Munich)

15:00 → 15:30 Scientific Talk: Landscapes of other worlds: Towards mapping exoplanet atmospheres

When you think about Planet Earth, you probably picture its beauty with the peaks and valleys, continents and oceans that make up the many faces of our home. Beyond Earth, all other planets of the Solar System show equally rich diversities of landscapes.
In this talk, I will outline how attempts at mapping planets outside of the Solar System - exoplanets - are giving us glimpses into the exotic diversity within the atmospheres of these strange distant worlds.

Speaker: Mr Cyril Gapp (LMU, Munich)

15:30 → 16:30 Closing Remarks, Coffee/Tea Break and Networking