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Friday, March 14, 2008

Less Than 13 Jupiter Masses

Last night I attended the Exoplanet talk that was held by the Blue Collar Scientist, Jeff Medkeff, at the Campbell Creek Science Center. This was the last talk being held this winter, so anyone not there missed out, at least until November (next winter).

Our hosts prepared well for this event--there were very few leftover seats. With good reason, the discovery of other planets around stars both distant and near is something that generates a full house.

I do have to report that a 60 mm Macro lens does not make a good general-purpose lens--something I aim to rectify for the future, but for now it means my photos turned out pretty blurry. I'm not often good at photographing in conditions where I have no control over lighting, or, even, to be frank, just to cram as many commas in here as possible, if the subject happens to actually move on its own accord.

Anyway, the talk covered a bit of history, a bit of how these planets are discovered, and covered lots of examples, as well as addressing the issue of whether there is life elsewhere in the universe.

(And is there? Oh, my yes. The odds are firmly against it being otherwise. You might even say... astronomical.)

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