"Pictures of Distant Worlds"

with

Dr. Bruce Macintosh

Director, University of California Observatories

In the past three decades, more than 6000 planets have been discovered orbiting other stars beyond our own Solar System. In recent years, advances in technology have allowed a handful of giant planets around other stars to be imaged directly. Find out about the first-ever images of other solar systems — and the technology that has allowed us to discover them, such as the Gemini Planet Imager — as well as the future planet-hunting space telescopes. The ultimate goal is detection of a second ‘pale blue dot’ — an Earth twin where we could even see the biosignatures of extrasolar life.