Exoplanets search lecture
Astrophysicist explains Kepler Space Telescope research
A NASA astrophysicist at the forefront of the search for life on other planets will attempt to illuminate secrets of the universe in Dunedin this week.
Dr Natalie Batalha, who is the mission scientist for the space agency’s Kepler Space Telescope, will present a free lecture at Otago Museum at 6.30pm on Thursday.
The presentation, ‘‘A Planet for Goldilocks: The Search for Evidence of Life Beyond Earth’’, will explore her work with the space telescope. She will present an overview of developments in the study of how to spot exoplanets, detailing the Kepler telescope’s contributions to the search for life on other planets.
Dr Batalha helped discover about 4700 new worlds since 2009 and was named in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people list this year.
In 2015, she joined the leadership team of a new Nasa initiative dedicated to the search for evidence of life beyond our solar system.
She has been touring New Zealand for the past two weeks and in Dunedin will give her last New Zealand lecture, hosted by the Dunedin Astronomical Society in association with the Otago Institute for the Arts and Sciences.
Dunedin Astronomical Society president Ash Pennel said it was a talk people should not miss as fascinating new findings were being made in the field of astronomy.
‘‘It’s a pretty exciting time to follow this subject.’’
Dunedin had become a city passionate about astronomy, he said.
‘‘We must have had 100 people through our beginners introduction to astronomy course this year, which is quite a lot.’’
The Otago Museum’s planetarium will premiering a new 3D show ‘‘Alien Worlds: The Case for Life’’ directly after the talk.