University of California, Berkeley

“Searching for Life Beyond the Earth:  Solar System Moons, Exoplanet Atmospheres, and Technosignatures”

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!

Growing up under the dark skies of the Rocky Mountains, Howard Isaacson moved to San Francisco to pursue a degree in Physics and Astronomy at San Francisco State University. During that time he made frequent visits to Lick Observatory to collect data on the Shane 3m telescope and Coude Auxiliary Telescope (CAT) in search of planets around other stars, exoplanets.  A research career at UC Berkeley followed, in which he worked on NASA’s Kepler, K2, and TESS missions, collecting supporting data from the Keck Telescope on the Big Island of Hawaii and Maunakea. His daydreams are now filled with the possibility of life beyond the Earth.

Ron Bricmont has been an observatory guide since 1991 and a coordinator of the Observatory’s volunteer program since its inception in 1997. He is a member of the staff of the Lick Observatory Historical Collections Project. Ron’s life-long interest in Lick Observatory and its history began with his first visit to the observatory as a six-year-old in 1945.

Eric Bricmont is a long-time volunteer at Lick Observatory, amateur astronomer and photographer. His devotion and passion for science is equaled only by his love of history. In addition to his time at the Observatory he also is an active volunteer with the Santa Clara County Parks, helping to provide monthly astronomy programs to the public.