Ruth Titz-Weider is part of the SPP 1992 coordination office. She is responsible for the SPP 1992 outreach activities and organisation of teacher training.
What fascinates me about this work?
In 1995, the first exoplanet was found around a sun-like star – now, April 2024, there are almost 6000. Last year, on average, a new planet was discovered every day! All students and young scientists interested in the exciting field of exoplanets have already grown up with non-fiction books or media describing the existence of planets outside our solar system.
From the very beginning, this discovery was linked to the question: is there a planet somewhere out there with life as we know it? And many articles – whether online or in traditional media – have appeared that leave almost no doubt: “There is a second Earth” was the headline of the Tagesspiegel in April 2007.
But the question of an Earth-like planet or a second Earth is a difficult one. If you think about it just a little, it becomes clear that many of the planet’s properties have to be “right” in order to be able to speak of a life-friendly celestial body. Radius and mass, atmosphere and magnetic field, plate tectonics and carbon cycle are just a few of these aspects.
I see it as a very important task to convey this depth, at least to some extent, and to awaken enthusiasm for this field of research, a kind of obligation to the interested public. Hence my involvement in the outreach programme of the SPP 1992, especially in teacher training.