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Exoplanets – the beginning of a new era in astrophysics

A protagonist’s perspective

  • Oral history interview
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Abstract

This oral history interview touches upon important topics like the dynamics of the discovery, in 1995, of 51 Pegasi b – the first extrasolar planet ever found around a normal star other than the Sun – the development of better and better equipment that made it possible, the importance it had in shaping a new community of scholars dealing with this new field of research, and, more at large, the cultural importance it had in overturning our view of the cosmos.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Observatoire de Genève, Université de Genève, 51 ch. des Maillettes, 1290, Sauverny, Switzerland

    Michel Mayor

  2. Osservatorio Astronomico della Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, Loc. Lignan 39, 11020, Nus, AO, Italy

    Davide Cenadelli

Authors
  1. Michel Mayor
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  2. Davide Cenadelli
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Correspondence to Davide Cenadelli.

Additional information

The text presented here has been revised by the authors based on the original oral history interview conducted by Davide Cenadelli and recorded in English at the Observatory of Geneva, Switzerland, January 2016.

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Mayor, M., Cenadelli, D. Exoplanets – the beginning of a new era in astrophysics. EPJ H 43, 1–41 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/e2018-80063-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/e2018-80063-1

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