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TCU Box 298840
Fort Worth, TX 76129
Phone: (817) 257-7375
Fax: (817) 257-7742
Email:physics@tcu.edu
This page maintained
by Kaoru Yoshida
Spring 2008 Seminar Information
Thursday, April 17th at 1:00 p.m. in SWR 357
Fourier Transform Infrared Isotopic Studies on Novel Metal-Carbon Clusters Trapped in Ar Matrix Environments
Sarah Bates
Department of Physics and Astronomy
TCURefreshment Served - 12:45pm
The Dissertation Oral Examnation will follow at 2:15Sponsor: Dr. Graham
Tuesday, April 15th at 3.00 p.m. in SWR 357
Production and Characterization of Nanostructured Silicon Carbide
Kendra Wallis
Department of Physics and Astronomy
TCURefreshment Served - 2:45pm
The Dissertation Oral Examnation will follow at 4:15Sponsor: Dr. Zerda
The Twelfth Annual
Joseph Morgan Lecture(General information on the Morgan Lecture)
William Borucki
NASA Ames Research Center
"Kepler: Detection of Earth-size Planets
in the Habitable Zone of Solar-like Stars"Public Talk
Monday February 25th, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.
Lecture Hall 1, Sid Richardson BuildingScience Colloquium
Monday February 25th, 2008 at 3:00 p.m.
Room 357 , Sid Richardson BuildingAbstract
The first step in discovering the extent of life in our galaxy is to determine the number of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone (HZ) of solar-like stars. Recent discoveries based on the Doppler-velocity technique have shown that many stars have jovian-mass planets, but this technique cannot detect Earth-size planets orbiting solar-like stars. The Kepler Mission is based on observing transits and is designed specifically to determine the frequency of terrestrial planets in the HZ. It will continuously monitor the brightness of 100,000 solar-like stars to detect patterns of transits that provide the size of the planet relative to the star and its orbital period. Combining these measurements with ground-based spectroscopy fixes the stellar parameters, the planet radius, orbital distance, and location relative to the HZ. At the end of the mission, hundreds of terrestrial planets should be discovered in and near the HZ of their stars if such planets are common. Such a result implies that life might be ubiquitous in our galaxy. A null result would imply that we might be the only sentient life. The Kepler Mission instrument and spacecraft have been built are now being tested. Launch is slated for February 2009.
Contact person: Dr. Fanelli
William Borucki is a senior NASA space scientist, and is currently the Principal Investigator of the Kepler planet quest mission. Kepler is NASA’s 8th Discovery-class mission, slated for a February 2009 launch. Bill has worked at NASA’s Ames Research Center since 1962, spanning almost the entire history of space science. He first worked on the development of the heat shield for the Apollo Mission in the Hypersonic Free Flight Branch. After the successful lunar landings, he transferred to the Theoretical Studies Branch where he investigated lightning activity in planetary atmospheres and the effects of nitric oxides on the Earth’s ozone layer. Currently he leads the Kepler spacecraft mission that will determine the frequency of Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zone of other stars.
Copyright © 2002-06 Magnus Rittby / Kaoru Yoshida; Last Updated: Sunday, April 13, 2008