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Jill Tarter to speak on SETI
Jill Tarter, who leads the world's most sophisticated search for radio signals from alien civilizations, will speak at the next Silicon Valley astronomy lecture, Wednesday, November 17, 7 p.m., in the Main Theater at Foothill College in Los Altos. Admission to this non-technical illustrated program is free (on a first-come, first-served basis) and the public is invited.
Dr. Tarter will discuss the current status of the search for intelligent life, and will preview some of the very exciting instruments and search techniques being developed for the next millennium.
The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures, co-sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, SETI Institute, and Foothill College, are designed to explore exciting
developments in ongoing exploration of the universe. Six lectures are offered during the 1999-2000 school year.
For more information, call 650/949-7888.
Dr. Tarter holds the Bernard Oliver Chair at the Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, and is considered one of the world's leading researchers in the field. (She served as the model for the role Jodie Foster played in the film "Contact.") Currently she is the chief scientist for Project Phoenix, the most ambitious program to find radio signals from other civilizations, and heads a group at the Institute developing even larger and more sensitive antennas for the search.
Among her many contributions to astronomy, Dr. Tarter coined the term "brown dwarf" to mean a "failed star" -- one whose temperature never gets hot enough for it to begin long-term energy production.
(This was part of her Ph.D. thesis at the University of California, Berkeley.) She holds the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace, and has received two NASA Public Service Medals.
Foothill College is located off Freeway 280 in Los Altos Hills. Exit on El Monte Road and travel west. Parking lots A, C, and E provide easy access to the Smithwick Theater. Visitors must purchase campus parking permits for $2.
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