Pictures of Distant Worlds - Discover Our Universe
Join us as Prof. Bruce Macintosh (Stanford University) presents the first public lecture in our 'Discover Our Universe' series followed by live online Q&A.
Find out more at kipac.stanford.edu/discover
In the past two and a half decades, more than 4000 planets have been discovered orbiting other stars beyond our own Solar System. This has sparked a revolution in astronomy as we realize our Solar System is not alone. However, we still don’t know if our Solar System is rare or unique — the powerful techniques that detect extrasolar planets have discovered systems very different than our own. In recent years, advances in technology have allowed a handful of giant planets to be imaged directly.
Find out about the first-ever images of other solar systems — and the technology that has allowed us to discover them, such as the Gemini Planet Imager — as well as the future planet-hunting space telescopes. The ultimate goal is detection of a second ‘pale blue dot’—an Earth twin where we could even see the biosignatures of extrasolar life. Such a discovery will truly complete the evolution of our view of the Universe.