Astronomy 141 Podcast Teaser

Are we alone in the Universe? This lecture explores the question of how we might go about finding life on planets around other stars. Rather than talking about speculative ideas, like the Drake Equation or SETI, I am instead taking the approach of posing it as a problem of what t ... Show More

Are there planets around other stars? Are there Earth-like planets around other stars? Do any of those harbor life? Intelligent life? We'd like to know the answers to all of these questions, and in recent years we've made great progress towards at least answering the first. To da ... Show More

Comets are chance visitors from the icy reaches of the outer Solar System. In this lecture I describe the properties of comets, their historical importance, and introduce the "dirty snowball" model of a comet nucleus. At the end of class I created a model of a comet nucleus from ... Show More

A new podcast, Astronomy 141, Life in the Universe, is available for those interested in continuing an exploration of topics in modern astronomy. 

In this episode as we (attempt) to answer your burning questions, you will be able to: · Explore the mind-bending mysteries of black holes and event horizons. · Discover fascinating specializations within the fields of physics and astronomy. · Uncover the constant evolution and b ... Show More