10-11-04
ASTRONOMY OPEN HOUSE: FAINT BLUE PLANETS
On Thursday, October 28, Dr. Darren Williams will present "Targeting Faint Blue Planets with NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder Telescope" as part of Penn State Behrend's Open House Night in Astronomy. The lecture will take place in the Otto Behrend Science Building, room 101, at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
In 1989, the Voyager 1 spacecraft (then out beyond the orbit of Neptune) was instructed to turn towards the Sun and take a picture of each of the planets in the Solar System, including the Earth. From the vantage point of the spacecraft, Earth appeared as a point of light (a "pale blue dot" according to late astronomer Carl Sagan) with no discernable features other than its distinctly bluish tint. The blue color of our planet is produced by skylight reflected by the oceans into space, so from a mere point of light seen at the distance of Neptune (more than three billion miles from Earth), we were able to deduce that Earth has an atmosphere and a water-covered surface.
Observations of planets around other stars will require equipment and technologies far more advanced than in the days of Voyager. The planned Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) spacecraft is a futuristic space telescope designed to detect and study extrasolar Earth-like planets to determine which ones might support life. Although launch of this telescope is still more than ten years away, scientists are already studying telescope design and potential mission results.
Dr. Darren Williams, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Behrend, received his B.S. in physics from the University of Pittsburgh and his Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from Penn State. He is a member of the NASA-funded team assembled to simulate data that might be returned by TPF. In his lecture, Dr. Williams will outline the TPF mission, share some of his recent research results, and discuss some of the very difficult challenges in observing faint blue worlds at astronomical distances.
Dr. Williams' lecture is suitable for a non-technical audience. Astronomical observing at the Mehalso Observatory will follow the lecture, weather permitting. For more information call the School of Science at 814-898-6105.
Media Contact: Jen Town, 814-898-6522, jlt234@psu.edu