Planets Near and Far

Humans have studied planets in our solar system, including our own Earth, for centuries. Only in the mid-1990s, however, did astronomers first find planets that orbit stars other than the Sun. In the thirty years since that monumental discovery, over 5000 additional planets have been discovered. Perhaps surprisingly, very few of these "exoplanets" resemble anything like the familiar ones in our solar system. Join Garrett Levine, a PhD candidate in astronomy at Yale, for a presentation on these exoplanets and the search for other Earth-like planets in our galaxy.

Garrett Levine is a final-year PhD candidate at Yale University in the Astronomy Department. He combines theoretical astrophysics with observational astronomy to understand planet-formation by studying asteroids, comets, planets, and stars. After growing up in Columbus, OH, he attended Caltech for his undergraduate studies and majored in physics and planetary science. Between Caltech and Yale, he developed and applied physics-based models of financial markets in quantitative trading. Outside of his academic research, he enjoys hiking, biking, and reading.

Registration suggested.

Image: credit NASA