EXOPLANETS - Discovering New
Earths
Are you excited yet about our Christmas Lecture and
Party? Listen to our Chairman, David
Moore, excitedly describing it on two radio interviews HERE and HERE (check for new
interviews HERE).
Each
year we invite everyone in Ireland to join us for a special annual event: our
annual Christmas Party preceded by a very special lecture for
Christmas.
This year we are delighted that the star of the BBC
Sky At Night show that was all about EXOPLANETS (planets around other
stars) earlier this year, Dr Giovanna Tinetti from University College London,
will give our CHRISTMAS LECTURE.
This is a fascinating topic that
one day will yield the discovery of life on other planets. The first step is to
find planets like the Earth from amongst the trillion or so thought to lie in
our own Milky Way Galaxy.
All your family and friends should enjoy
this topic and there will be free food at the Party in the nearby Lombard Inn
after the talk with Dr Tinetti as our guest.
LECTURE
DETAILS
In our Christmas Public Lecture, Dr Tinetti will explore the
amazing science behind the discovery of new planets, and how advancements in
technology will allow us to find life-supporting new Earths.
So
far, 853 planets around other stars have been found. The first exoplanet was
found 20 years ago in 1992 orbiting a pulsar. It is expected that there are many
billions of planets in the Milky Way galaxy, not only occurring around stars but
also as free-floating planets without a parent star, gliding through deep
space.
The discovery of extrasolar planets has intensified interest
in the search for extraterrestrial life. A number of planets with a mass similar
to that of Earth, and planets existing in the so-called "Goldilocks Zone", have
been found in recent times.
VENUE: The lecture takes place in the
Fitzgerald Building in Trinity College Dublin on Monday, December 10th, at
8pm.
For tickets, details and DVDs, please click HERE.