Events at Physics |
Events on Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
- Physics & Astronomy Departments
- Senior Send off Pizza Party
- Time: 11:30 am
- Place: Rooftop of Sterling Hall
- Abstract: Pizza & Soda
(weather permitting) - Public 2011 Physical Sciences Hilldale Lecture
- The Last Generation of Lonely Astronomers
- Time: 6:00 pm
- Place: 1310 Sterling Hall
- Speaker: Dr David Charbonneau, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
- Abstract: For centuries humans have gazed up at the stars and asked whether there are inhabited worlds other than our own. We are fortunate to live at the moment in history when we have the technological ability to answer that question. Astronomers have now uncovered hundreds of worlds orbiting nearby stars, and have studied the chemical content of their atmospheres.<br>
However, those studies have been restricted to planets that are both too hot and too large to be likely abodes for life. The coming year offers the very real opportunity to detect small, temperate worlds similar to the Earth. Once identified, we will probe the atmospheres that enshroud these distant orbs for chemical evidence of biological activity. - Host: Astronomy Department