The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures

Andrew Fraknoihas, who chairs the Astronomy Program at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California, has sent notice of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series.

An anonymous donor has supported the online posting of 10 public lectures in the series as free MP3 downloads available at the web site of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP). Video versions of some of the lectures are in the DeAnza iTunes library here.

Each hour-long lecture is followed by many questions and answers. The lectures now online include:

* Dr. David Morrison (NASA Ames Research Center): "Taking a Hit:
Asteroid Impacts and Evolution"

* Dr. David Grinspoon (Denver Museum of Nature & Science): "Comparing
Worlds: Climate Catastrophes in the Solar System"

* Dr. Bruce Margon (University of California, Santa Cruz): "Glimpsing
the Edge of the Universe: Results from the Hubble Space Telescope"

* Dr. Dale Cruikshank (NASA Ames): "The Planet Pluto: Maligned but
Not Forgotten"

* Dr. Alex Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley): "Dark
Energy and the Runaway Universe"

* Dr. Frank Drake (SETI Institute): "Estimating the Chances of Life
Out There"

* Dr. Nathalie Cabrol (SETI Institute): "The Mars Exploration Rover
Mission"

A few talks are also available as video files (instructions can be found
on the same page.