Astronomers will announce major findings about planets outside our solar system, known as extrasolar planets, at a NASA Science Update at 1 p.m. EST, Wednesday, March 23.
The Update is in the Webb Auditorium, NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., SW, Washington. NASA TV will carry the Update live. Reporters may watch the briefing at participating NASA centers. The discoveries were made by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, when researchers discovered new capabilities of the infrared instrument to search for the planets.
Panelists:
- Dr. Drake Deming, chief, planetary systems laboratory, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
- Dr. David Charbonneau, assistant professor of astronomy, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass.
- Dr. Heidi Hammel, senior research scientist, Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
- Dr. Alan Boss, staff research astronomer, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington
- Dr. Kim Weaver, moderator; Spitzer program scientist, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
NASA TV is available in the continental United States on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 72 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA TV is available on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, C-Band, located at 137 degrees west longitude. Frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.
