Museum Program Ponders Life Beyond Earth

SEATTLE, Oct. 21, 2009--University of Washington astronomer Dr. Woody Sullivan visits The Museum of Flight on Nov. 7 to deliver a presentation detailing the fascinating search of Earth-like planets around other stars, the possibility of finding life in our own solar system, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). "The fundamental question of the existence of extraterrestrial life is not new," says Sullivan,"but for the first time we can now carry out scientific experiments and observations to search for such life." The program is at 2 p.m. in the William M. Allen Theater and free with admission to the Museum.
 

 

Sullivan is a radio astronomer by training and has been active in SETI for three decades--he developed the seti@home project. "Through SETI," Sullivan explains, "I became fascinated by the questions of the origin and evolution of life on Earth, and where life might occur elsewhere in the Galaxy, and in what form." This led to the UW Astrobiology Program that he now leads, allowing graduate students and faculty from a variety of scientific disciplines to study Earth's life in a cosmic context and the cosmos as a home for biology.

 

This program is part a series of events at The Museum of Flight's celebrating International Year of Astronomy 2009.
 
For more information about the International Year of Astronomy, please see:  http://astronomy2009.us/ 

 

Photo: Dr. Woody Sullivan, courtesy Woody Sullivan.