Final chance to “Explore your Universe”

The Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) and Cerro Coso Community College invite you to attend this semester’s final broadcast of our “Explore Your Universe” Fall Lecture Series. Each installment has featured talks by prominent astronomers, aiming to share astronomy research and findings that take place at OVRO. The last lecture of the season takes place Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m., when Dr. Andrea Isella from the California Institute of Technology will give a talk entitled “Origins of Solar Systems: from dust to planets.”In the last decade, our understanding of the origin of the Solar System has drastically changed due to the discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting other stars, and to the direct observation of young stars surrounded by dense material on the verge of forming new planetary systems. These latter observations directly inform how planets of thousands of kilometers in diameter might form. During the talk, Dr. Isella will present a review of the most recent observations and theories on the origins of Solar Systems, and discuss the most important open questions that will be addressed with new generation telescopes.

Originally from Italy, Dr. Isella attended the University of Padova before receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Milano. His thesis focused on near-infrared and millimeter-wave interferometric observations of proto-planetary disks around stars. Such studies are one of the strengths of the CARMA instrument at the Owens Valley Observatory, and Isella has since moved to Caltech to pursue this research first as a Michelson fellow, and now as a faculty member.

The lecture is hosted by Cerro Coso Community College and takes place at their Bishop Campus in Room 176. The lecture is free, from 7-8 p.m. on Dec. 8. For more information call OVRO at (760)-938-2075 ext. 130 or visit www.ovro.caltech.edu.