Life on other worlds

Lisa Kaltenegger, associate professor of astronomy, will share her research on potentially habitable planets beyond our solar system in a free public lecture, “A Thousand New Worlds,” July 8 at 7 p.m. in Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall.

Kaltenegger, the director of the Carl Sagan Institute, says we live in an age when we finally may be able to answer the question, “Are we alone in the universe?” In search of that answer, she has been examining alien worlds for biosignatures – the pre-conditions and indications of life.

“We are on the cusp of discovery, mapping our place among the thousands of worlds in the night sky,” Kaltenegger says.