20160401

Program for the April 1, 2016, OAS meeting

Extra-Solar Planets

By Dr. Alex Filippenko

Summary:

Extra-Solar Planets Galore!

Because extra-solar planets are too dim to be seen directly, they are detected using a variety of ingenious techniques. Two examples: Minute variations in a star's spectrum and tiny changes in its brightness can signal the presence of planets.

Life Beyond the Earth

The recent discovery of extra-solar planets rekindles the age-old question of whether there is life beyond Earth. This lecture examines the possibility of rudimentary life on other planets and moons in the Solar System.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Alex Filippenko is Professor of Astronomy and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor in the Physical Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his B.A. in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Ph.D. in Astronomy from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Filippenko is coauthor of The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium, now in its 4th edition (2013), and winner of the 2001 Texty Excellence Award for best new textbook in the physical sciences. He has played a prominent role in numerous television documentaries, including about 40 episodes spanning six seasons of The Universe on The History Channel.