SPECIAL EVENT: "Exoplanet Exploration" talk by Stephen Edberg of NASA/JPL

May '09 15 Fri 7:30 PM
Location

39221 Woodward Ave
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
248.645.3200

How to find us
"In the main auditorium - ask at front desk."

Attendance
 95  people attended.
5.00 5.005 (5 ratings)

Who organized?
Jonathan Kade, Robert Berta, and suitti

Price

$10.00 per person
refund policy

Since the first discovery in 1995, the number of known exoplanets, or planets outside our own solar system, has increased monthly. As discovery techniques have been refined, investigation techniques have been developed that enable us to study the weather on some of these planets. What will this new information tell us and how will we use it?

In this talk, titled "Exoplanet Exploration: Expanding Geography Outside Our Solar System," Stephen J. Edberg, System Scientist for the Space Interferometry Mission at NASA/JPL, will discuss the processes scientists use to make these discoveries and how they will help us learn to characterize other planets and ultimately look for other Earth-like planets, and for life on them.

Tickets are $8 for members of Cranbrook Institute of Science and dues-paying members of the Warren Astronomical Society and $10 for non-members. Please call [masked] or sign up for tickets here.

Admission to the museum is free with a ticket purchase - feel free to come early and spend a little time walking around. If you haven't visited Cranbrook lately, it's a beautiful museum with some really excellent exhibits.

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  • suitti
    suitti

    I asked my wife if i could bring our 12 year old. But she didn't know what an exoplanet is. Short for EXtra sOlar PLANET, these are planets that orbit stars other than the Sun. Why are they interesting? They'll tell us something about how our own solar system formed and how common planets like ours are in the galaxy. Might there be life out there? The discovery of intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy promises to be an Earth shaking event.

    Posted May 5, 2009 10:05 AM

Who attended?

  • 95 attendees
    • Outreach Director, 2009-2010
       Stephen Edberg's presentation on the whys and hows of discovering planets beyond our solar system made a highly sophisticated field of astronomy accessible without watering it down. The look at proposed instruments to find earth-like planets was fascinating-- imagine being able to know the weather and temperature patterns on a planet many light years away! Edberg's way of illustrating the Doppler shift was especially entertaining. 
    • Publications Director, 2010
       Dr Edberg is a great speaker, and well prepared. His own professional interest in this stems from work on a space mission that has not launched as yet. Like the "Kepler mission", which recently launched, it should be able to detect Earth like planets around stars other than the Sun. It's a mission that complements Kepler in many ways. 
    • Treasurer, 2010
       Stephen Edberg gave a talk that covered the science of exoplanet detection rigorously but accessibly. His props were effective at demonstrating the Doppler effect and the center of mass of a gravitationally-bound pair of objects. He gave a great overview of all of the proposed space observatories that could advance exoplanet study by leaps and bounds. 
    • Second Vice-President (Observatory Chair), 2010
       Excellent speaker...perfect level for the audience...not too high end nor overly simplified. My 9 year old son enjoyed the talk and plans to do a report at his class. He had Edburg sign a poster addressed to his teacher so is looking forward to "wowing" her ;-) 
    • Jerry Kuchera (+9 guests)
    • Anthony (+1 guest)
    • First Vice-President (Program Chair), 2010

Your organizer's refund policy for SPECIAL EVENT: "Exoplanet Exploration" talk by Stephen Edberg of NASA/JPL

Refunds offered if:

  • the Meetup is cancelled

Additional notes: Contact Cranbrook at 248-645-3210 for more information about ticket refunds.

Payments you make go to the organizer, not to Meetup. You must make refund requests to the organizer.

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