Evening with the Stars – July 21, 2023

What will be the next big discovery in Astronomy? In the last few years, we have heard of discoveries of gravitational waves, and had images of black holes using Earth sized telescopes, but what lies beyond the next horizon? In this talk, I will describe the three ways that astronomers will search (and possibly detect!) life beyond the Earth. Within the solar system, water oceans are hidden below layers of ice on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.  With our ability to send spacecraft to make direct measurements, molecular life may be the next exciting discovery within the solar system.  Beyond our solar system, we know of thousands of extra-solar planets and we think that nearly every star in the sky has a planet around it.  Some of those will be similar in size, mass and temperature to the Earth. If we can measure oxygen in the atmospheres of those planets, it might be the next great discovery. Or: Using the most powerful radio telescopes on the Earth, we are capable of receiving the faintest of radio signals from across the galaxy. If such a signal originated from some sort of recognizable technology, it would be direct evidence that We Are Not Alone in the galaxy.  Come to hear more about finding Life Beyond the Earth!