Marcy
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Are our own solar system and planet Earth special, or are they common in the universe? Geoffrey Marcy, professor of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley, will tackle that question during two Patten Lectures on the Bloomington campus.
In collaboration with his team of planet-finders, Marcy pioneered discovery of extra-solar planets, including the first multiple-planet solar system and the first planets with masses as small as Neptune and Uranus. Recently, Marcy has contributed to the discovery of a new class of Neptune-sized planets with masses only 10-20 times that of Earth. Such planets may be gaseous like Jupiter, or may even be “rocky” planets like Earth.
Marcy will present his experiences at the following Patten Lectures:
• “Planets, Yellowstone and Prospects for Life in the Universe,” Tuesday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in Rawles Hall 100, IU Bloomington.
• “Hunting for Solar Systems with Earth-Like Planets,” Thursday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Rawles Hall 100, IU Bloomington.
Chosen by a campus-wide faculty committee, Patten Lecturers have represented more than 50 academic departments and programs. The series was established in 1937.
Interested in the Patten Lecture series? Go to:
http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/patten/
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