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The public, they love the exoplanets!

From: Robert Jedike
Subject: John Johnson on Exoplanets

Date: July 1, 2008 5:00:37 PM HST

To: ifa@ifa.hawaii.edu


Last night John Johnson, IfA NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, gave a Frontiers of Astronomy Lecture on 'Other Worlds' to the Friends of the IfA and other members of the public. It was our biggest crowd ever, attracting more than 120 people and requiring us to pipe the presentation to the TV in the foyer outside the auditorium. I've received tremendous positive feedback on John's talk from Friends of the IfA and from members of the IfA as well. Thank you John!


Sadly, the presentation was not taped :( So you'll have to use your imagination to picture me sounding like a professional astronomer, all wowing the crowd with live demonstrations of Doppler shifts, whiz-bang movies of exoplanets, cool pictures, and a few jokes here and there. The audience was extremely attentive and friendly. The questions afterward were excellent and on point. Not a single question about black holes, alternate universes or time travel!

After spending the past week busting my butt to get this talk in order and stressing out about the delivery, I'm excited to get back to work searching for planets. I'm on the UH88 telescope all next week. Please think clear, dry, cloudless thoughts for me.

Comments

jcom said…
Look at all those captivated Hawaiian shirts! Congrats. =)
Karin said…
Did you get a lei?? I want to give a public talk in Hawaii!! Great job!!
martha said…
I'm SO proud!
MOM
Anonymous said…
If anyone can do outer-space a good turn by making her extra interesting, it's you. Well done!

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