Astro Night – August 4th

Fri, August 05, 2016

EVENT TIMES AND LECTURE INFORMATION

Doors: 7:15 pm
Talk: 7:45 pm – 8:45 pm
Stargazing*: 8:45 pm – 10:15 pm

The Search for Extraterrestrial Technologies and the Breakthrough Listen Initiative

For millennia, humanity has gazed towards the heavens and asked the question “Are we alone?”  For the first time in our history, the answer may be within our grasp.  Astronomers have recently determined that the key environmental factors that are believed to have given rise to life on Earth are present in abundance throughout the Milky Way galaxy.  Luke-warm planets, water and complex organic molecules are now known to be ubiquitous.  Armed with the certainty that life could have developed elsewhere, scientists everywhere are racing to determine if indeed it did, and if so, whether some of that life went on to develop a technological capability similar to our own.  Recently, a bold new search for advanced life beyond the Earth was announced – the Breakthrough Listen Initiative.  This 10-year 100 million dollar program is headquartered at UC Berkeley, and is undertaking the most comprehensive, sensitive and intensive search for advanced life in history.

Bio: Dr. Andrew Siemion, a research astronomer jointly affiliated with UC Berkeley, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) and Radboud University, Nijmegen, will discuss the latest developments in the science of astrobiology that are informing modern SETI, the Breakthrough Listen Initiative and the prospects for detection.

*NOTE*: Stargazing is dependent on weather conditions; lectures will always occur as scheduled. For more information please visit the Astro Night event page.