Department Planetary Science

How did our solar system form? What brought about the diversity of very different celestial bodies and its abundance of various natural phenomena that we encounter today? These are only two of the key questions from the wide range of Planetary Research that we investigate in the Planetary Science Department.

The main focus of the department includes all planets, as well as the smaller celestial bodies, such as comets and asteroids. By means of comparative planetology, we investigate the commonalities and differences of the various planetary bodies. We study their structure and composition, as well as the variety of dynamic processes. This ranges from the deep interior of these celestial bodies through their surface layers and atmosphere to the plasma environments of the planets, which are composed of the extremely thin and electrically charged gas that surrounds the planets.