Astrobiology in the spotlight
The Namibia Scientific Society hosts a public talk by Prof William Welsh on Astrobiology: Life in the Universe on Thursday, 25 July.Astrobiology is the study of the universe's origin, evolution, distribution, and search for life. The past few decades have revealed numerous discoveries fuelling explosive growth in this field. For example, scientists have discovered over 5 600 planets in orbit around other stars, that life can thrive in extremely hostile environments, and that there may be more water on Jupiter's moon Europa than on the Earth.
In this talk, Welsh discusses how these discoveries influence our understanding of the origin and requirements for life, and how astronomers can search for signatures of extraterrestrial life.
Welsh is a Professor of Astronomy at San Diego State University and has been teaching a course on astrobiology for over 20 years.
He earned his PhD from Ohio State University, followed by postdoctoral work at Keele University in England and at the University of Texas, Austin. As an observational astronomer, he has worked on active galactic nuclei, accretion disks, compact-object binary stars, and transiting
The talk (in English) starts at 19:00. You can also join in by Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/8023841980