Description
Are there planets around other stars? This lecture reviews the methods
used to hunt for exoplanets and the results thus far. I will describe
direct imaging methods, indirect methods relying on the gravitational
influence of the planet on its parent star, planetary transits in which
a planet blocks part of its parent star's light, and gravitational
microlensing. There has been an explosion in our knowledge of planets
around other stars, from little or nothing in the early 1990s to more
than 400 planets around some 340-odd stars as of today. Recorded live
on 2009 Nov 17 in Room 1005 Smith Laboratory on the Columbus campus of
The Ohio State University.
Course finale and summary. We look back over where we've been the last
eleven weeks, and bring together all of the main themes of this course
on Life in the Universe. Recorded live on 2009 Dec 4 in Room 1005 Smith
Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.
Published 12/04/09
How will life, the Universe, and everything end? This lecture looks at
the evolution of our expanding Universe to project the prospects for
life into the distant cosmological future. Recent observations show
that we live in an infinite, accelerating universe. I will trace the
evolution of the...
Published 12/03/09