VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Houston Museum of Natural Science presents a special lecture entitled  Discovering Extrasolar Planets: A Tale of Two Telescopes.

Fritz Benedict (pictured), Ph.D., McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas
Tuesday, October 27, 6:30 p.m.

Hundreds of extrasolar planets orbiting other stars beyond our solar system have been discovered. Some of these extrasolar planets may actually be a low mass star! In this session, you will learn how research astronomers discover these very distant planets and determine their size and mass. It is actually an interesting tale of two telescopes: The first is one of the biggest optical telescopes, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory. The second is the highest optical telescope, Hubble Space Telescope.

Dr. George F. Fritz Benedict will also introduce us to other research projects of the McDonald Observatory. An expert in astrometry, tracking the positions of objects in space, Benedict came to The University of Texas at Austin in 1972. Today he is a Senior Research Scientist with McDonald Observatory. He is a frequent user of Hubble Space Telescope and is the principle investigator for the Hubble’s Astrometry Science Team. Benedict is also involved with NASA’s planned Space Interferometry Mission PlanetQuest.