Soumil Kelkar is a PhD student at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute in Groningen and his research is focused on characterizing the habitability of terrestrial planets. The conventional definition of the habitable zone (the region around a star where conditions are suitable for the presence of surface liquid water) is highly biased by our understanding of Earth-like conditions and how life evolved and thrives on Earth. The estimated diversity in the properties of exoplanets warrants an extension to the definition of the habitable zone concept beyond planets with an Earth-like composition. To that end, he performs climate simulations of terrestrial planets to estimate their habitable zone boundaries, with the eventual goal of expanding the habitable zone definition and providing reliable target lists for future exoplanet missions. Soumil obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Physics with a specialization in astronomy from the Indian Institute of Science, Education & Research in Pune, India. His first exposure to the field of exoplanets came during his Master’s, when he did an internship at NASA Goddard in Washington D.C., USA. There, Soumil worked on characterizing the effects of clouds on the spectra of directly-imaged Earth-like exoplanets.
