MOVIE NIGHT Screening of the 2013 science fiction film *** "Gravity" *** Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as NASA astronauts stranded in orbit, this tense film earned 7 Oscars at the 2014 Academy Awards, including Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón. Note: No Star Viewing after the program on Movie Night
Alan Agrawal, Mount Diablo Astronomical Society *** Heavenly Vision: Galileo’s Telescopes & Observations *** Galileo Galilei developed a new method for reliably comprehending the world around us and, accordingly, has been called the father of modern science. We will learn how Galileo’s celestial observations dramatically changed our understanding of the universe and our place in it. Star […]
Jay GaBany, President & CEO, Advanced Imaging Conference *** Astrophotography for Everyone *** Advances in recent decades have allowed amateur astronomers to produce deep space and planetary pictures that rival those taken by professional observatories. This presentation will provide an overview of off-the-shelf instruments and methods anyone, with perseverance and patience, can use to take amazing astronomical […]
Carol Stoker, Planetary Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center *** The Search for Life Beyond Earth *** Besides Earth, several planetary bodies in our solar systems are recognized as having the potential to host primitive forms of life. This talk will describe why and how NASA plans to search for life on Mars and the icy moons […]
Natalie Batalha, Research Astronomer, NASA Ames Research Center *** Life in the Goldilocks Zone *** Discoveries by NASA's Kepler Mission suggest there are billions of potentially habitable worlds in the Milky Way galaxy. What has the study of planets within and beyond the Solar System taught us about our own planet Earth? And what’s next in the search for […]
Watching the Universe Grow Up Dr. Adrian Liu, Research Associate Professor, UC Berkeley Cosmologists have now come to a detailed understanding of what our Universe was like as a child (400,000 years after the Big Bang) and what it is like as an adult (13.8 billion years later). But what was our Universe like as […]
Apr 21, 8:00pm — A Universe of Universes? AlexFilippenko, Professor of Astronomy, UC BerkeleyMany scientists now think that there might be more than a single universe.Our universe may be just one example in a farlarger “multiverse," but an unusually complex one that is conduciveto the existence of life. Come learn about the relevant linesof reasoning and their profound implications.Parking Pass Required! Visit […]