Arthur Bleksley memorial lecture

Professor Debbie Elmegreen, President of the American Astronomical Society, will deliver the first Arthur Bleksley Memorial Lecture entitled New Worlds: In search of other Earths. Humankind has long looked skyward and wondered whether we are alone in the universe. Are there other Earths orbiting distant stars like our Sun? Today astronomers know of at least 600 other planetary systems around distant stars, with over 700 known planets, and over 2000 additional candidate planets. Do any of these exoplanets (planets outside of our solar system) have water on their surfaces and atmospheres which could sustain life? Astronomers are on the verge of being able to answer these questions, using new telescopes and techniques. The formation of solar systems, the discovery of exoplanets, and the quest for new worlds and other planets will be explored through recent observations from the ground and from space.

 The evening will commence with an introductory lecture by Prof. David Block of the School for Computational and Applied Mathematics, entitled Smashing the moulds of tradition: lessons from the genius of Wits Applied Mathematician, Arthur Bleksley.

This lecture is part of Astronomy Day that will be hosted at Wits on the 19th of April 2012. For other events on the day, click here.