9:30-10:30     Seth Redfield, PhD -  Wesleyan University, Assistant Professor of Astronomy

Professor Redfield received his PhD in 2003 in Astrophysics at the University of Colorado with his dissertation on, "The Three-Dimensional Structure of the Local Interstellar Medium.”   Dr. Redfield was a Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas and a Harlan J. Smith Postdoctoral Fellow at Macdonald Observatory.  Active in public education and outreach in astronomy, Dr. Redfield has been published in Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, StarDate and Physics Today.  He has authored, co-authored, refereed or published many works in the field of astronophysics.

 Title:  Transiting Extrasolar Planets and the Age of Comparative Exoplanetology

Abstract:  We are fortunate to have witnessed the early stages of extrasolar planet discovery, a field that has grown tremendously in the last decade.  Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will witness the achievement of one of the fundamental goals in exoplanet research, the discovery of exo-Earths in the habitable zone around nearby stars along with an evaluation of their atmospheres in search of signs of biological activity.  In the meantime, "hot Jupiters" that transit their host stars, provide an opportunity to probe the composition and structure of exoplanetary atmospheres and refine our observational techniques as we prepare to perform these experiments on yet to be discovered terrestrial exoplanets.  I will give a brief summary of the status of exoplanet discovery and how a planetary transit enables additional insight into the nature of the exoplanet and its atmosphere.  Such techniques are unavailable for non-transiting systems.  I will discuss the first ground-based detection of absorption due to an exoplanetary atmosphere, and present the most recent findings in a field that didn't exist even 15 years ago: comparative exoplanetology.

 11:00-12:00     Prof. Richard Greenberg, Lunar & Planetary Lab, University of Arizona, Tucson
 

As a celestial mechanician, Prof. Greenberg’s research interests span all aspects of planetary motions, especially those that involve non-gravitational effects like collisions and tides, including formation of planets, extra-solar planetary systems, evolution of asteroids and meteorites, and the orbits of satellites.  As a member of the imaging team for the Galileo mission to Jupiter, he became especially engaged in interpretation of the processes that have shaped the satellite Europa.

                                   Title:  “Unmasking Europa:  The Search for Life on Jupiter’s Ocean Moon"

Abstract:  Europa's global ocean contains twice the liquid water of all Earth's oceans combined.  Tides warm this satellite of Jupiter and stress its icy crust.  The distinctive tectonic cracks and ice floes demonstrate active linkages between the surface and the ocean just below,  providing a variety of evolving environmental niches.  These processes were recent, and likely continue today.  A habitable biosphere might extend from the ocean up to within a few centimeters of the surface.  Longer term changes in environmental conditions may have driven biological adaptation, as well as provided opportunity for evolution.  Life on Europa might be relatively accessible to spacecraft exploration, but at the same time vulnerable to contamination.

Prof. Greenberg’s new book “Unmasking Europa” has been reviewed favorably in Sky and Telescope, Nature, and NASA’s Astrobiology magazine.  The book will be available for signing.

1:30-2:30   Dr. Brice N. Cassenti, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut

A Professor in Residence, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Connecticut,  Brice Cassenti received his Ph.D. degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1972.  At the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn he worked extensively on re-entry vehicles. He joined Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1971 where he worked on a variety of military projects. In 1976 Dr. Cassenti joined the staff at United Technologies Research Center where he worked on mechanics, supercomputer programming, and advanced propulsion. Dr. Cassenti joined Pratt & Whitney in 2001, where he developed probabilistic design methods for use in gas turbine engines.  He joined Rensselaer at Hartford in 2007 where he taught graduate level courses in engineering, mathematics, and physics.  Dr. Cassenti then joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Connecticut in January 2009 where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses and performs research in mechanics, propulsion and astrodynamics.
 

http://www.engr.uconn.edu/me/page.php?id=peoplelist&pid=cassenti
 

                                 Title:  "Feasibility of Robotic Investigations of Extra-solar Planets"

Abstract:   The first extra-solar planet, now discovered almost fifteen years ago, has been followed by over three hundred more, the latest of which are almost as small as our Earth.  This is a very exciting time in astronomy just to know that we are close to being able to say, with certainty, that earthlike planets not only exist but are plentiful.  But just knowing that they exist will not be enough.  We want to know their chemistry, their geography, their weather, and much more.  Yet the distances to the nearer exoplanets are so large that it will be difficult from our home planet to do the detailed investigations required to answer even the most basic questions.  The situation is analogous to the state that existed in the 1950s before the advent of spaceflight.  Telescopic investigations of the planets in the solar system had only answered the most basic questions.  In fact, many answers were misleading and some just plain wrong.  Robotic spacecraft have since corrected the wrongs and have even made the satellites of the planets as now well known as the planets themselves.  Surely robotic investigations of exoplanets will do the same.  The question is not how much we would learn from robotic investigations of extra-solar planets, but whether it can be done at all.  We cannot send probes to the stars today but we can look at the feasibility.  We can perform investigations into the most efficient methods, the measurements that could be performed, and the technical and economic problems that have to be solved.  The discussion will look at the question of feasibility, the challenges that must be surmounted and even present a timeline, if the arguably insurmountable problems can be overcome.