UW Astrobiology Colloquium

Details

Public

Type: Special Event

Keywords: Astrobiology Astrophysics

Held on: Apr 18, 2023 (Tue) at 03:00 PM to Apr 18, 2023 (Tue) at 05:30 PM

Speaker: Natasha Batalha, PhD

Location: 3910 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA

Event Coordinator: David W. Ingram

Overview

Natasha Batalha, PhD  Penn State, Astrophysics & Astrobiology
  UW Physics & Astronomy Auditorium, Room PAA 118.
   Meet & Greet for refreshments in foyer at 2:30pm
    For Zoom instructions, call Lisa Young at 206-543-2604            

The Open Access Era of Exoplanet Characterization at the Onset of Next-Generation Telescopes 

One of NASA's primary goals is to observationally characterize exoplanet atmospheres, understand the chemical and physical processes of exoplanets and improve the understanding of the origins of exoplanetary systems. Throughout the next decade and beyond, JWST, Roman, future mission concepts, and ground-based telescopes will work towards achieving these goals by interpreting a diverse set of exoplanet atmosphere observations, ranging from hot gas giants to small temperate rocky worlds. Our understanding and interpretation of this full gamut of spectroscopy data will hinge on our ability to accurately link observations to theoretical models. Therefore, it is imperative that our theoretical models are equipped to tackle these problems. In concert with this new era in exoplanetary space science, specifically ushered in by the exquisite data of JWST, NASA has declared 2023 the Year of Open Science. Leading up to this, one of our goals has been to ensure that the community is equipped with findable, accessible, interpretable, and reproducible theoretical models needed to both plan and execute ground-breaking science. Open access tools increase the accessibility of our science, the diversity of ideas, and foster equitable collaborations. 

Map

Latitude 47.65338269999999, Longitude -122.3118654

More Information

See Dr. Batalha's YouTube video,  "Unveiling the Nature of Terrestial Worlds".

https://www.nasa.gov/ames/ocs/summerseries/2021/natasha_batalha

Biography:
Dr. Natasha Batalha is a scientist at NASA Ames Research Center who studies the atmospheres of worlds beyond the Solar System, also called exoplanets. She has a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Cornell University and a dual PhD from The Pennsylvania State University in Astrobiology & Astrophysics. Throughout her career she has garnered awards such as the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Scholarship, the University of California President's Fellowship, and NASA Ames Early Career Award. Her research is focused on building physical models to help learn about the atmospheres of exoplanets using primarily space based telescopes. This entails measuring exoplanet atmospheres' climate and chemical compositions by leveraging spectroscopy. Furthermore, all Dr. Batalha's models are all publicly available via Github, as she strives to create a field that is accessible and inclusive. In the next year the revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope will be launching. Dr. Batalha is co-leading the largest exoplanet observing campaign to study the atmospheres of a mysterious class of planets between the size of Earth and Neptune, and therefore is anxiously awaiting a successful launch in October.

 

Announcements

over 1 year ago

UW Astrobiology Colloquium starts soon!

UW Astrobiology Colloquium starts shortly on Apr 18 (Tue) at 03:00 PM.

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