'Other Stars, Other Planets'
Joe McCue/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: News
Like most astronomers, Jim Kaler first became interested in astronomy as a child looking up at the stars.
He has been interested ever since.
This interest inspired Kaler, professor of astronomy at the University of Illinois, and his presentation "Other Stars, Other Planets," which is at 7 p.m. today in the Physical Science Building's Phipps Lecture Hall.
This will be the final lecture in Eastern's yearlong celebration of the International Year of Astronomy and will describe the more than 400 extra-solar planets that have been found along with extra-solar planetary systems, which look similar to our own.
The presentation aims to answer the question whether there is life on other planets, where Kaler will explore the possibilities.
Jim Conwell, professor of physics and director of Eastern's observatory, said that before recent technology was discovered, finding new planets was nearly impossible.
"Stars are much bigger than planets," Conwell said, "It is like looking for a candle in a spot light."
Kaler said astronomers are now able to look at the pull of planets on stars, thanks to this new technology.
Scientists are beginning to look at the evolution of the stars to infer properties about the new planets, he said.
Kaler is a past president of the board of directors of the Astronomical Society and a former president of the board of Champaign-Urbana Symphony. He is also an accomplished author and was a consultant for Time-Life Books on its "Voyage Through the Universe" series. His many books include "Heavens Touch," "Heavens Above: Stars, Constellations, and the Sky," "The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the stars," "The Little Book of Stars" and "The Hundred Greatest Stars."
In honor of his outreach activities, asteroid 1998 JK was named 17853 Kaler, and in 2008 he received the American Astronomical Society's Education Prize.
Joe McCue can be reached at 581-7942 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
He has been interested ever since.
This interest inspired Kaler, professor of astronomy at the University of Illinois, and his presentation "Other Stars, Other Planets," which is at 7 p.m. today in the Physical Science Building's Phipps Lecture Hall.
This will be the final lecture in Eastern's yearlong celebration of the International Year of Astronomy and will describe the more than 400 extra-solar planets that have been found along with extra-solar planetary systems, which look similar to our own.
The presentation aims to answer the question whether there is life on other planets, where Kaler will explore the possibilities.
Jim Conwell, professor of physics and director of Eastern's observatory, said that before recent technology was discovered, finding new planets was nearly impossible.
"Stars are much bigger than planets," Conwell said, "It is like looking for a candle in a spot light."
Kaler said astronomers are now able to look at the pull of planets on stars, thanks to this new technology.
Scientists are beginning to look at the evolution of the stars to infer properties about the new planets, he said.
Kaler is a past president of the board of directors of the Astronomical Society and a former president of the board of Champaign-Urbana Symphony. He is also an accomplished author and was a consultant for Time-Life Books on its "Voyage Through the Universe" series. His many books include "Heavens Touch," "Heavens Above: Stars, Constellations, and the Sky," "The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the stars," "The Little Book of Stars" and "The Hundred Greatest Stars."
In honor of his outreach activities, asteroid 1998 JK was named 17853 Kaler, and in 2008 he received the American Astronomical Society's Education Prize.
Joe McCue can be reached at 581-7942 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
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