Events Calendar
The Search for Habitable Planets
Thursday February 19, 2015
5:30 pm
Tweet |
Presenter: | |
---|---|---|
Series: | Sigma Xi Public Talk | |
Abstract: | One of the great successes of modern astronomy was the discovery of a Jupiter-mass planet orbiting the sunlike star, 51 Pegasi in 1995. Since then, hundreds of planets and planetary systems have been detected; however, most would not be habitable for carbon-based life as we know it. The next frontier for exoplanet science is the discovery of analogs of Earth, laden with oceans of water. The discoveries that we have already made hint that these worlds should be common and new instruments are now being designed with the required sensitivity to find them. These are discoveries that will jolt the perspective of humanity and awaken a new view of the Universe. | |
Location: | Room C, UNM Conference Center | |