Hi! I'm Monika Kress and I'm an astronomer at San Jose State University.

In my work, I teach astronomy and physics, and I also do research. When I am wearing my researcher hat, I try to figure out the recipe to make a planet. We know that planets need to have water in order to have life, but they also need other things like organic molecules. Organic molecules have carbon and hydrogen in them. It is a lot harder than you might think to have a planet that has all the necessary ingredients! And just because the ingredients are there, does not mean the planet will have life on it. For example, Venus probably started out with all the right ingredients, but we don't think there is any life there today.

Monika Kress' Career Fact Sheet

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