Explore the wonders of the universe including the recent discoveries of exoplanets.

In this public-level talk that contains pictures and videos from observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope and our own Pine Mountain Observatory, Dr. Fisher will reveal the wonders of the universe through a lecture on what he calls "The Cosmic Perspective." The main goal of the lecture will be to connect us to the Universe we inhabit using an easy-to-grasp scale that relates the actual size of the Universe to the audience. Once we have our new perspective in mind, Dr. Fisher will move into a discussion of one of the most exciting recent discoveries in all of astronomy - the existence of exoplanets. Exoplanets are planets that are known to orbit stars other than the sun, as of late 2017 we have confirmed that over 3500 planets live outside our solar system.

Along the way our speaker will be very open to questions from the audience and is up for a round of "stump the astronomer" with anyone that attends the event!

Dr. Scott Fisher is a faculty member in the University of Oregon Department of Physics where he teaches introductory-level astronomy courses and serves as the Director for Undergraduate Studies for the department. Scott previously worked at the National Science Foundation in Washington, DC where he was responsible for selecting and funding astronomy programs across the United States. Before his time in Washington, Scott was based in Hilo, Hawaii where he worked as a staff scientist of the Gemini Observatory. At Gemini, he worked as an instrument scientist and as a member of the Gemini Outreach team. Scott's main area of research is searching for and studying planet-forming disks around young stars.

In addition to his love of astronomy, Scott is an amateur photographer and a Geocacher. When he is not observing, he can often be found in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or anywhere with nightlife full of bright neon lights, poker cards, and casino chips!


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