Saturday, October 1, 2011

September 30: Strange New Exoplanets!

Last night we kicked off our fall outreach season with a bang! Visiting planet-hunter and astrophysicist Ray Jayawardhana presented an excellent talk on the field of exoplanetary discoveries. As a researcher actively engaged in exoplanetary discoveries, he took us through the entire evolution of this exploding young field in astrophysics. This lecture was part of his book tour, promoting his new popular science book: "Strange New Worlds." He was available to sign copies of his book after the lecture.

Despite the clouds and rain, we still put on a good show. Dr. Josh Peek and Cameron Hummels explained the new results of the neutrinos which may have traveled faster than light, and later answered questions on a variety of topics in modern astrophysics. Jana Grcevic and Miao Li took visitors on tours of the telescopes and the Rutherfurd Observatory. Finally, Yuan Li operated the 3D wall, showing audience members 3D views of our Universe.

Thanks to the 160 members of the public who attended!

--Cameron

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