A Planet for Goldilocks: The Search for Evidence of Life Beyond Earth

Public lecture by Dr Natalie Batalha

"Not too hot, not too cold" begins the prescription for a world that's just right for life as we know it. Finding evidence of life beyond Earth is one of the primary goals of science agencies around the world, thanks in large part to NASA's Kepler Mission which launched in 2009 with the objective of finding Goldilocks planets orbiting other stars like our Sun. The space telescope opened our eyes to the terrestrial-sized planets that populate the galaxy as well as exotic worlds unlike anything that exists in the solar system. Dr. Batalha will give an overview of the science legacy of the Kepler Mission and preview of future missions now on the drawing board.

Natalie Batalha is an astrophysicist at NASA Ames Research Center and the project scientist for NASA's Kepler Mission. She holds a PhD in astrophysics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and is one of the leading scientists in the search for planets outside our own solar system. In 2011 Batalha led the team responsible for the discovery Kepler-10b, the mission's first confirmation of a rocky planet outside our solar system and in 2017 she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential people.

Hosted by the Department of Physics, University of Auckland, the Auckland Astronomical Society and the Beatrice Hill Tinsley Lecture Trust