Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures Present

Free Public Talk on the Search for "Earth 2.0" Among the Stars

When
Wed Nov 8, 2017
Where
Foothill College - Smithwick Theatre
Time
7 to 8:30 pm
Cost
Free
Tags
Lectures, Education, Technology

Description

Dr. Natalie Batalha of NASA’s Kepler Project will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk on:

“A Planet for Goldilocks: Searching for Earth 2.0 Among the Stars”

in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos.
The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series at Foothill College, now in its 18th year.

"Not too hot, not too cold" begins the prescription for a world that's just right for life as we know it. Finding evidence of life beyond Earth is one of the primary goals of science agencies around the world thanks in large part to NASA's Kepler Mission which launched in 2009 with the objective of finding Goldilocks planets orbiting other stars like our Sun. The space telescope opened our eyes to the terrestrial-sized planets that populate the galaxy (including several right in our neighborhood) as well as exotic worlds unlike anything that exists in the solar system. Dr. Batalha will give an overview of the science legacy of the Kepler Mission and other key planet discoveries. She'll give a preview of what's to come by highlighting the missions soon to launch and those on the drawing board.

Natalie Batalha is an astrophysicist at NASA’s Ames Research Center and the Project Scientist for NASA's Kepler Mission. She holds a Doctoral degree in astrophysics from UC Santa Cruz. She has been involved with the Kepler Mission since the proposal stage and has contributed to many different aspects of the science, from studying the stars themselves to detecting and understanding the planets they harbor. Batalha served ten years as professor of physics and astronomy at San Jose State University, before joining NASA Ames. In 2011, she was awarded a NASA Public Service Medal and in 2017 Time Magazine named her to the list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos. For directions and parking information, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/transportation.php
For a campus map, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/maps.php

The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program
* The SETI Institute
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
* NASA’s Ames Research Center.

We get large crowds for these talks, so we ask people to try to arrive a little bit early to find parking. The lecture is free, but there is a charge of $3 for parking on campus and exact change is appreciated.

Past lectures in the series can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures

Comments

Location

  1. Foothill College - Smithwick Theatre
    12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos Hills, CA