Afternoon Astronomy Coffee Hangout on Thursday, 8 September
Alberto Conti BAE Systems, Inc.
Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, is about 4 light-years from our solar system. Searches for planets have endeavored to find not only large Jupiter-sized planets, but smaller objects more similar to the size of the Earth.
The Pale Red Dot campaign, marshaling astronomical facilities around the world, discovered that an Earth-mass planet lies in the star system closest to us! It may be that the planet is cool enough to contain water at the surface. And this is just the beginning of such discoveries!
Join Tony Darnell and Carol Christian on Thursday, 8 September, at 3:00 pm ET as they discuss with Michale Endl (The University of Texas at Austin and McDonald Observatory) and Avi Mandell (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,) the search, discovery, and possible nature of this nearby planet.
We hope you can join us! The best place to watch the hangout will be on YouTube, broadcast on the Deep Astronomy Channel. You can also RSVP and comment on the Facebook event.
This hangout is brought to you by the team behind the monthly "Future in Space" hangouts. Presented in affiliation with the American Astronomical Society and the American Astronautical Society.