A free public lecture titled "The Glow of Distant Worlds" will be presented by Zach Berta-Thompson from the University of Colorado Boulder at the Aspen Center for Physics on Wednesday, April 2. This event is part of the Nick and Maggie DeWolf Foundation winter lecture series.

The evening will begin at 5:00 PM with tea and cookies, followed by the lecture at 5:30 PM sharp. Free parking is available at the Center and in the surrounding neighborhood. Attendees are also encouraged to use the Downtowner or RFTA Crosstown Shuttle for convenient access.

This event is free, but RSVPs are highly recommended.

Everything glows. Everything emits light. Stars and light bulbs emit visible light we can see with our eyes; planets and people emit infrared light that can be felt as heat or seen with infrared cameras. In this talk, we will explore how astronomers use infrared light and the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe planets orbiting other stars. These “exoplanets” are so distant they will never appear as anything more than mere flickering points of light in the sky. Yet, by carefully observing exoplanets’ thermal infrared glow, we can determine whether they have atmospheres, what those atmospheres are made of, and what their climate is like. From the blazing fires of gas giants orbiting just above their stars to the tenuous atmospheres of rocky planets, we will tour a Universe of weird worlds now being observed by JWST. Looking back at our own precious planet, we will explain how infrared light governs the delicate energy balance that lets us live on Earth. Looking out into the future, we will touch on how astronomers plan to use light to search for alien life on habitable exoplanets outside the Solar System in the decades to come.

Zach Berta-Thompson is an astronomy professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. He uses large and small telescopes, both on the ground and in space, to observe exoplanets orbiting other stars and to characterize their atmospheres. He views each exoplanet as a laboratory experiment that can help us understand the processes that sculpt planetary evolution, and he builds methods and models in careful steps toward eventually determining whether life exists outside the Solar System. Zach grew up as the son of two ceramic artists in Michigan, he studied with caring astronomers at Princeton, Harvard, and MIT, and he started as a professor in Colorado in 2016. He leads a team of researchers and teaches students to practice using curiosity, creativity, coding, and kindness to learn more about how worlds work. Beyond astronomy, he enjoys yarn crafts, hiking with toddlers, and plants.
 

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