Our featured speaker this month is Dr. Madhan R. Tirumalai Ph.D.who will have a few things to say about
discovering oceans on distant planets in his talk:

ExoOceans, Icy Moons: Space Exploration and Planetary Protection

The past couple of decades has seen an explosion in our knowledge of planets beyond our solar system.
So far, a few thousand have been identified. Questions that until recently were relegated to science
fiction have now taken on a new urgency. What are the conditions necessary for life and even
civilizations on alien worlds? With improved technology, we are just becoming able to detect, from light
years distance, markers that could indicate if a planet might support life.

For life as we know it, water is essential, but for readers of Frank Herbert’s Dune series, it seems human
life might be adaptable to a very wide range of available moisture. Contrast Herbert’s Caladan, home
world of house Atreides an ocean world, to Arrakis a desert world where the story unfolds. Now, think
about the difficulties in colonizing next door Mars.
If ever we are going to make the investment in journeying to an extra solar world, you can bet that we
would likely only move toward a planet with an ocean.

Monthly Meeting Friday August 10 th
Practical Astronomy 6:30 and General Meeting 7:30

Join us Friday night at 7:30 for this exploration of the science and science-fiction of life beyond
planet Earth.