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