News Release
ESCC Bishop Campus
Astronomy Speaker Series Continues at Bishop Campus
April 29, 2008
Cerro Coso Community College and the Combined Array for Research in
Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA) proudly announce that the next astronomy
speaker series at the Eastern Sierra College Center, Bishop Campus will be
held on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. This event is
entitled, "Serendipitous Discovery in Astronomy: Technical Advances
and Clever Data Mining" and will include a free talk and slide show by
Andrew A. West, Ph. D. The College's Bishop Campus is located at 4090 West
Line Street.
Many astronomical discoveries over the years have been made serendipitously,
that is, seemingly by accident. Although a large fraction of these
serendipitous discoveries have been led by advances in technology, some new
discoveries have simply been a product of careful attention to detail and
clever data mining.
Dr. West will present a brief history of serendipitous discovery in
astronomy over the last century. He will also highlight how in the new era
of large surveys, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the form of
serendipitous discovery has changed, but still remains a continual source of
excitement and scientific breakthrough. In particular, he will focus on his
own work in following up a recent discovery of the largest known planetary
nebulae. He will also share new results on his own discovery of likely large
planetary nebulae counterparts whose sizes may supersede the current
world-record-holder!
This free talk and slide show is for a general audience and all students and
community members are invited to attend.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Joann Handeland, Director of Public Information (760)
384-6230