Randall Museum Lectures: Another Pale Blue Dot: Inside the SETI Institute’s Search for Exoplanets

Dr. Marchis presents Another Pale Blue Dot: Inside the SETI Institute’s Search for Exoplanets, a talk on the search for planets beyond our Solar System – referred to as exoplanets. In only two decades, scientists have gone from the mere speculation about exoplanets to being able to observe them through a variety of methods. Dr. Marchis will discuss new and sophisticated projects designed to provide images of these exoplanets. Future instruments could soon deliver an image of a cousin of Earth or another Pale Blue Dot - a planet similar to our own. The talk will be followed by a demonstration of the Unistellar eVscope, an innovative robotic telescope developed in partnership with the SETI Institute.
 

Brief Bio:
Dr. Franck Marchis is a Senior Scientist and Exoplanet Research Thrust Chair at the SETI Institute and Chief Scientific Officer at Unistellar. Marchis earned his PhD in Astrophysics at the Université Paul Sabatier, France, in 2000. He is a planetary astronomer with 22 years of experience in academic, international, and non-profit scientific institutions and has conducted multiple research projects in a wide range of areas. He is best known for his discovery and characterization of multiple asteroids, his study of Io volcanism, and imaging of exoplanets - planets around other stars. In April 2007, the asteroid numbered 1989SO8 was named “(6639) Marchis” in honor of his work in the field of multiple asteroids.

For more information, visit https://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/monthly_lectures/randall/