Google Hangout Today: The Hunt for Other Worlds Heats Up

Planet-hunting telescopes have recently taken a huge leap in their ability to find “exoplanets,” or planets orbiting other stars. In just the past six months, astronomers have announced the discovery of more than 700 such worlds, bringing the total to more than 1700. These discoveries include the first Earth-size planet found in what’s called the habitable zone of a star, where liquid water could exist; the oldest known planet that could support life; and the first rocky “mega-Earth,” a planet that’s much like Earth except that it’s 17 times more massive. On July 9, 12:00-12:30 pm PDT, three exoplanet hunters will come together discuss the discovery boom, consider the next steps in the hunt for habitable worlds, and ponder the odds of finding life on another planet. 

The participants:

 * ZACHORY BERTA-THOMPSON is the Torres Fellow for Exoplanetary Research at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. He hunts for exoplanets as a member of the MEarth Project, a survey to find small planets orbiting the closest, smallest stars.

*BRUCE MACINTOSH is the principal investigator for the Gemini Planet Imager, which searches for planets from the Gemini South telescope. GPI recently snapped its first image, thereby producing the best-ever direct photo of a planet outside our solar system. Dr. Macintosh is also a Professor of Physics at Stanford University and a member of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology.


*MARIE-EVE NAUD is the University of Montreal PhD student who led analysis that recently uncovered a previously unknown giant planet using infrared light. The planet, known as GU Pisces b, is one of the most unusual exoplanets found to-date, with a mass 10 times greater than Jupiter’s and orbiting its star at 2,000 times the distance between Earth and our sun.

Ask your questions: Questions can be submitted ahead of and during this webcast by email to info@kavlifoundation.org or send a message on Twitter with the hashtag #KavliLive. 

NOTE TO WEBMASTERS: An embed code for this webcast is available. To request embed code, contact cohen@kavlifoundation.org

MEDIA CONTACT
James Cohen, Director of Communications, The Kavli Foundation
email: cohen@kavlifoundation.org
phone: +1 805-278-7495