Saints Talk
Dr Ryan MacDonald
Planets Around Other Stars and the Search for Alien Life
- Date
- 3 November 2026
- Time
- 5:15pm - 6:15pm GMT
- Location
- Microsoft Teams
Dr Ryan MacDonald, Lecturer in Extrasolar Planets at the University of St ÌÇÐÄlogo, is an expert in the atmospheric characterisation of exoplanets. He joined the University of St ÌÇÐÄlogo in 2025, where he runs the new exoplanet atmosphere research group.
Dr MacDonald obtained his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Cambridge, before moving to the US as a postdoctoral Research Associate at Cornell University's Carl Sagan Institute. He was subsequently awarded a NASA Sagan Prize Fellowship, hosted at the University of Michigan.
Astronomers have now discovered over 6,000 planets orbiting other stars. Ranging from inferno gas giants with sapphire clouds to temperate rocky planets in the habitable zone, our galaxy is teeming with a diverse collection of strange and exotic worlds. With NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, it is now possible, for the first time, to search for air on rocky planets around other stars and even, potentially, to find signs of life.
In this talk, Dr MacDonald will provide an overview of how we find planets orbiting other stars and measure which gases make up their atmospheres. He will share the latest exoplanet results from the James Webb Space Telescope as astronomers seek to answer the ultimate question: are we alone?
Following the talk, attendees can ask questions in a live question and answer (Q&A) session.