....Oakland,
California - Stargazing since 1924
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Eastbay Astronomical Society The doors will open at 5:45pm,
with Dinner at 6:30pm. Kepler: The Search for Earth-sized Planets Around Other Stars Presented by Prof. Gibor Basri,
Ph.D During the last decade, astronomers have finally begun finding planets around other stars. We still don't know anything about the number of planets like the Earth (almost none of the known planets has a solid surface). A NASA mission ("Kepler") should directly answer the question by finding many such planets. This dedicated space telescope will monitor more than 100,000 stars in its wide field-of-view for several years, looking for the telltale dip in their light caused when a planet crosses in front of them. It relies on the strict periodicity of planetary orbits to eliminate noise from stellar variability. Given our current understanding of planet formation, it should find at least several hundred terrestrial planets, some of which will be in the "habitable zone" of their stars (meaning liquid water could survive on the surface given a reasonable atmosphere). Kepler should provide estimates for the total number, orbital and size distributions, and correlations of these with stellar properties for inner planetary systems. This will be very helpful in assessing the likelihood of Earth-sized (or larger) planets in our Galaxy.
Gibor Basri was born May 3, 1951 in New York City to Saul and Phyllis Basri. He grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, with younger brother David. Saul was a Physics professor at Colorado State Univ; Phyllis taught ballet and other dance. The family lived in Burma in 1957 and in Sri Lanka in 1965, both under Fullbright Lectureship appointments. GB attended Ft. Collins High School. He got a BSc in Physics from Stanford University in 1973, and a PhD in Astrophysics from the Univ. of Colorado, Boulder in 1979. GB is married to Jessica Broitman, and has 1 son. GB joined the faculty of the Berkeley Astronomy Dept. in 1982, and became a full professor in 1994. His work in the 1980s concentrated on star formation and the study of T Tauri stars, as well as continuing studies of stellar activity. He was also lead author on an Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Science article entitled "What is a Planet?". GB has written nearly 200 technical publications, including numerous review articles. There are more than 7000 citations to his works. GB was awarded a Miller Research Professorship in 1997, and became a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer in 2000. He has served on committees helping to award major NASA and NSF grants and projects, and awarding time on the (world's largest) Keck telescopes. In Dec. 2001, NASA selected the Kepler mission as one of its next Discovery missions. GB is a Co-investigator on this mission, which has as its goal the discovery of extrasolar terrestrial planets, and the characterization of all planets in inner solar systems. GB became increasingly involved in science education, and encouraging the participation of minorities in science. His efforts in this, and on behalf of increasing diversity at the University, were recognized by the Chancellor's Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in 2006. He has served since 1998 on the Board of the Chabot Space and Science Center.and as a Board Member for the "I Have a Dream, Oakland" Foundation for a decade. GB served as Acting Chair for the Astronomy Dept. in 2006-07. In 2007 he was selected by Chancellor Birgeneau after a national search as the founding Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion at Berkeley. This year's Helen Pillans Award
goes to The dinner will be catered by Harry’s Hofbrau featuring Roast Beef, Turkey, Ham and Spinach Lasagna. This dinner always receives rave reviews every year we have it. Cost per person will be $35.00. Purchase your attendance online using your PayPal account or credit card by clicking the following button: Or, mail your checks, payable to the EAS, as soon as possible to the Treasurer: EAS Treasurer Or, give your payment to Don Saito or Richard Ozer at CSSC some Friday evening. As always, please get your reservation in ASAP to keep the organizers from having a panic attack. We must give the caterer a final count by March 7th, though we can take a few late-comers at the door. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------February EAS Lecture Meeting
EAS Loaner Scope Program 60mm & 80mm refractors, C90
Maksutov-Cassegrain, 2 - 10 inch Dobsonians, Scope rental is $15 a month with
a $50 deposit. For information, contact Ray Wong at (510) 796-5748 or qm7@yahoo.com EAS Library Hours 3:00pm to 7:00pm every Friday & Library is located on the second
floor of the Dellums Building, down the Volunteer librarians are needed
to expand library hours, if you'd
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