2024 Summer

PTYS/ASTR 170A1

Alien Earths (3)

Thousands of planets have been discovered orbiting nearby stars. How many of these worlds can we expect to be Earth-like? We explore this question from the perspective of astronomers, geologists, and historians. We look back at Earth’s geologic history to periods when our planet itself would appear very alien to us today. We study the nearby planets Venus and Mars, which were once more Earth-like than today. We discuss not only the evolution of Earth, Venus, and Mars as habitable worlds but also how human understanding of these planets has evolved. Finally, we apply these perspectives to the search for alien Earths in our galaxy. This interdisciplinary treatment of Earth, its neighboring planets, and planets being discovered around nearby stars allows us to consider the potentially unique position of Earth as a habitable world not only in space but in time.

Course Level: GenEd: Building Connections, GenEd: Quantitative Reasoning, GenEd: WritingCourse Level Other: Tier I NATS
(001) Steve Kortenkamp

All About Asteroids with OSIRIS-REx and SPACEWATCH

Host Dr. Erika Hamden Ph.D, Professor of Astrophysics at the U of A, visits the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory to learn about recent missions to visit asteroids and views dust from asteroid Bennu which was recently brought to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. Then, she meets with scientists from the SPACEWATCH program who use telescopes on Kitt Peak to scan our skies nightly for hazardous asteroids that might one day threaten our planet.

Topic(s)
Asteroids, comets, meteors
Date
Presenter(s)
Brucker, Melissa
Lauretta, Dante
Read, Michael
Zega, Tom
Object(s)
Bennu
Mission(s)/Instrument(s)
K-ALFAA
OSIRIS-REx
Spacewatch
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