Morrisville Centennial Library, Tue Aug 13th 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Only a few decades ago, exoplanets - planets circling other stars - were science fiction. No more. The first exoplanets were found in 1992. Since then, that number is nearing 6,000. And the closest one is only 4.2 light years away.

But how do we find planets that are even "only" 4.2 light years - 25,300,000,000,000 miles - away? Can non-astronomers help? Come to this presentation to find out. We'll look at:

- What are exoplanets?

- What types of exoplanets have we found? What do these findings indicate?

- How to find exoplanets using techniques like transit, radial velocity, and microlensing. If you're not an astronomer, these techniques may sound incomprehensible. But if you've ever had a moth fly in front of your porch light, you understand the transit technique, for example.

- Two ways for non-scientists to investigate exoplanets.

The more we learn, the stranger and more interesting the universe becomes.

Event Info

Dec 28, 2024

Jan 1, 2025, 5:45 to 6:15 PM

Jan 2, 2025, 2:30 to 4 PM