February 22nd, 2020
“On the Road to the Pale Blue Dot: Searching for
Habitable Planets with Direct Imaging”
Dr. Mark Marley, NASA- Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA
Taylor Observatory
5725 Oak Hills Lane, Kelseyville
8PM – 11PM
https://www.wonderopolis.org/
Abstract: This year marks the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the first confirmed extrasolar planet, an accomplishment which was recognized with the Nobel Prize this year. We now know of over 4000 confirmed extrasolar planets, but we do not yet know how common planets like the Earth are or if any such planets are inhabited. Finding potentially habitable planets and searching them for life will be one of the great challenges of the next decade. In his talk Dr. Marley will explain various methods for searching for habitable planets, focusing on the method of direct imaging in which the glare of the planet’s star must be removed to a precision of one part in 10 billion to reveal the nearby faint planet. He will describe possible future strategies, including giant deployable space telescopes and starshades which could rise to the challenge and answer one of humanity’s oldest questions, “are we alone?”
Speaker Biography: Dr. Mark Marley is a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. He studies the atmospheres of extrasolar planets and the failed stars known as brown dwarfs. He recently spent 3 years helping NASA design and plan a possible future successor to the Hubble Space Telescope known as LUVOIR. Dr. Marley has published over 200 scientific articles and has twice been awarded the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in recognition of his research.
Location: Taylor Observatory, 5725 Oak Hills Lane, Kelseyville, CA 95451. Proceed to Taylor on gravel road at end of Oak Hills Lane
Admission: $5.00 adults, free to Lake Co. K-12 students. Additional donations support Lake County STEM education and are encouraged. (707) 262-4121
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