(July 22, 2010) Dr. John Johnson, of the California Institute of Technology, presents “The Exploration of Other Worlds.” He discusses astronomers’ study of planets beyond our Solar System and the hunt for distant worlds resembling Earth.

(June 10, 2010) Dr. Constance Rockosi, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, presents “The Galaxy’s First Stars.” She discusses her research at Keck to study the oldest stars in the Milky Way and determine what conditions were like in the early Universe, when the Galaxy first formed.

(April 8, 2010) In his lecture, “Cosmic Dawn: The Quest for the First Galaxies,” Dr. Richard Ellis, Steele Professor of Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology, discusses his record-breaking discoveries of the most distant objects in the Universe and how his observations shape our understanding of the earliest stars and galaxies.

(March 16, 2010) Dr. Michael Mumma of NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center presents “Methane on Mars: Current Knowledge, Earth Analogues and Principal Issues” as part of the 2010 Evenings with Astronomers lecture series held at the Fairmont Orchid. Mumma presents the ground breaking research on the first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars. He then describes how his team will continue to apply the W. M. Keck Observatory, particularly its world leading adaptive optics system and NIRSPEC instrument, to more precisely identify the location of the planet’s methane emissions and ultimately to determine whether they come from a biological or geological source.