Wednesday, April 1, 2009
After traveling to space five times, Steve Hawley, professor of physics and astronomy, has a unique perspective to share with his astronomy students.
“I want to share what I have learned as an astronomer and an astronaut with the students here at KU,” Hawley said.
Hawley will share his knowledge of space in his lecture “Wild Astronomy: Black Holes, Dark Matter and the Prospect for Extraterrestrial Life” at 7 p.m. at the Natural History Museum.
This semester Hawley is teaching the astronomy course “Quest for Extraterrestrial Life.”
Brent Hartley, Olathe senior and a student in the class, said Hawley’s class encouraged people from different scientific backgrounds, such as geology, biology and chemistry, to get involved in the field of astronomy. Hartley said the class was an unusual elective.
“It’s kind of exciting having someone from a different astronomy background teach,” Hartley said. “It’s been a very long time since there has been an astronomy elective like the one being taught.”
In addition to exploring the possibility of life existing beyond Earth, Hawley’s lecture today will discuss how powerful satellite telescopes are helping scientists explore exploding stars, dark matter and dark energy.
Hawley said these new telescopes were fundamentally changing scientists’ understanding of the universe, much the way Galileo’s telescope did 400 years ago.
He said modern telescopes, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, or HST, were revolutionizing the way scientists viewed the universe. Because these satellite telescopes orbit above the Earth’s atmosphere, they have a highly unique combination of superior resolution and sensitivity, Hawley said.
“I think it’s fair to say that HST discoveries have caused us to rewrite our astronomy textbooks.”
Hartley said modern telescopes and research had shown that the elements necessary for life existed beyond Earth.
“We know that life seems to flourish even under the harshest conditions on Earth,” Hartley said, “which gives us great hope to find life or signs of past life in other places other than Earth.”
In the search for life beyond Earth, modern telescopes have been able to identify planets around other stars in the Milky Way, Hawley said.
“The conditions that allowed life to form on Earth are probably duplicated elsewhere,” Hawley said. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that intelligent life is common.”
Using modern ground and space-based telescopes, Hartley said, scientists were able to identify planets where life could exist or could have existed in the past. Hartley pointed to the recently launched Kepler Telescope as an example of newer telescopes searching for the possibility of other Earth-like planets.
“We also know that there are many other planets orbiting other stars — other than our sun — and hopefully, we will be able to detect Earth-like planets that have the essentials necessary to harbor life,” Hartley said.
Karen Ohmes, Hutchinson junior and a student in Hawley’s class, said it was a privilege to have a professor with hands-on experience working in space. Ohmes said she hoped to one day become an astronaut like Hawley.
“I’ve always really looked up to him,” Ohmes said.
Hawley’s lecture is part of the Natural History Museum’s monthly Wild Science series. The lecture is free and open to the public.
— — Edited by Chris Hickerson
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