Astrometry, one of the oldest forms of astronomy, remains valuable. With Hubble Space Telescope we continue to contribute to the hot topics of exoplanets (planetary sizes, masses, and composition(!)) and stellar astrophysics (the intrinsic brightnesses of stars that go “boom”). As for the falling sky, yes, it is an astrometric result. But you’ll have to come and find out why and when.

The search for life beyond the Earth has been like searching for the Holy Grail. Discovery of life beyond the Earth would be one of the greatest scientific discoveries possible. Mars offers an excellent opportunity for life to have developed during its early evolution. The missions to Mars have had the goal of discovering the requirements for life: water, carbon, energy transfer processes and a geologically active planet. Martian samples in the form of meteorites from Mars are available for study in laboratories on Earth. These Martian samples have been delivered to the Earth as “poor man’s space probes”. The secrets hidden within the Martian meteorites along with recent discoveries from automated rovers exploring the surface of Mars will be the focus of the presentation.