HERAEUS-SEMINAR "PLASMA AND RADIATION ENVIRONMENT IN ASTROSPHERES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE HABITABILITY OF EXTRASOLAR PLANETS"
The 527. Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Seminar "Plasma and Radiation Environment in Astrospheres and Implications for the Habitability of Extrasolar Planets", took place from March 10th-15th, 2013 in the "Physikzentrum" of the German Physical Society (DPG) in Bad Honnef.
About 60 participants from 8 nations were discussing the conditions for habitability that are defined by the astrospheres, magnetospheres, and atmospheres surrounding extrasolar planets, including the question how signatures of life, so-called biomarkers, could be observed. The workshop brought together established experts on the various topics, young scientists as well as graduate students, and contributed to activities that will go well beyond the seminar week. The latter was supplemented by a Mini-Workshop within the framework of the ongoing collaboration between the Heliophysics group of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, the Astroparticle Physics group at the University of Kiel, and the Centre for Space Research at the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa.