[Baps] BU seminar 9/9/2010 Webster Cash (University of Colorado)

[Paul Withers]

Details of this week's seminar follow at the end of this email, but 
first selected planetary seminars for the semester.
Schedule online at:
http://www.bu.edu/dbin/csp/?q=CSP_sked

September 16  	Humberto Campins (UCF)	
Water Ice and Organic Molecules on Asteroids: Implications for the 
Origin of Water and Life on Earth

September 23 	John Clarke (BU)
The HST Campaign of Auroral Imaging of Jupiter and Saturn

October 14 	Patricia Beauchamp (JPL)
Missions to Titan, the Enigmatic Moon of Saturn

October 28 	Robert Braun (NASA chief technologist)
Investments in our Future: Exploring Space through Innovation and Technology

November 11 	Jeff Forbes (University of Colorado)
TBD, may involve planetary atmospheres



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Csp_seminar] CORRECTION! 9/9/2010 Webster Cash (University of 
Colorado)
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:51:37 -0400
From: Despina Bokios <dbokios at bu.edu>
To: csp_seminar at bu-ast.bu.edu

   Sorry for the confusion...

Speaker: Webster Cash
Affiliation: University of Colorado

Title: The New Worlds Observer Direct Imaging and Spectroscopy of
Earth-like Planets

Date:  Thursday, September 9, 2010
Time:  3:30 PM Refreshments in Room 500, 4:00 PM Talk
Place:  725 Commonwealth Ave. Room 502


Abstract:
The New Worlds Observer is a mission concept that can be realized in the
coming decade. It features an Ultraviolet to Near-IR telescope of
quality comparable to HST. A separate spacecraft, flying about 80,000km
away along the line of sight to a nearby star carries a starshade that
blots out the central star without decreasing the flux from exoplanets
as close as .04 arcseconds. With this powerful combination of existing
technologies, it will be possible to completely map hundreds of nearby
planetary systems, identifying most of the major planets. It is expected
that this will lead to the discovery of dozens of Earth-mass planets in
the habitable zone.  Immediate spectroscopy of the detected bodies will
allow assessment of their true natures. The presence or absence of water
lines and biomarkers will open the serious search for simple life in the
Universe. Starshades can be used in combination with other telescopes,
like JWST, to launch sooner at a lower price.