Monthly Lecture Series - The Pandora Mission and Exoplanets

Speaker:
Dániel Apai, PhD

Topic
Exploring New Worlds in Space: From Clay Tablets to NASA's Pandora Space Telescope and Beyond

Modern science is opening a fascinating window on worlds around other stars. Ground- and space-based telescopes are now discovering new planets at an accelerating pace. Precise measurements provide important clues on the atmospheric compositions of many extrasolar planets, including planets that may be habitable. Our team recently completed NASA’s latest exoplanet telescope, Pandora, which is now in full science operations. In this talk, I will provide the latest updates on the science program and progress of Pandora. I will also highlight our ongoing Nautilus Space Observatory project, which offers a bold vision for the future of exoplanet exploration.

Bio:

Dániel Apai is Professor of Astronomy, Planetary Sciences, and Optical Sciences at The University of Arizona. His primary research interests lie in the fields of exoplanets, astrobiology, and innovative optical systems and architectures for space observatories. Apai earned his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Heidelberg University. He worked in the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Science Policy Group on the Hubble Space Telescope mission before joining the University of Arizona faculty in 2011. At UA, Dr. Apai leads the NASA-funded Alien Earths astrobiology project that focuses on understanding the formation and habitability of nearby planetary systems. He is Co-Investigator, and UA lead of the NASA Pandora Space Telescope, and leads large projects to decipher the atmospheres of exoplanets and brown dwarfs. Dr. Apai is Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and Fellow of the Explorers Club.