Apr 17, 2017
Feature Guest: Quinn Konopacky
The 14th annual Expanding
Canada’s Frontiers symposium was hosted on January 27th, 2017 by
the Astronomy and Space Exploration Society, a student group based
at the University of Toronto. This year’s unique theme was “What
Ifs: Is the Impossible, Possible?”! In this special three episode
series, we’re joined here at The Star Spot by the event’s keynote
speakers as we explore three provocative questions at the cutting
edge of astronomy.
How would things be different if our sun wasn’t an only
child? This isn’t a simple exercise in academic speculation for the
majority of stars like our sun actually do come with at least one
other companion orbiting them. In this third and final segment of
our “what if?” series, we’re joined here at The Star Spot by Quinn
Konopacky to find out just what would have happened if we gave our
sun the sibling it never had, and by implication, what the
prospects are for life among the majority of sun-like stars in our
galaxy.
Current in Space
The Star Spot is expressing its appreciation to Anuj Rastogi for his invaluable contributions to our show. After producing news for the last three years, Anuj is leaving our team to pursue other opportunities.
In his final broadcast he offers us three important news updates. Are fast radio bursts signs of alien intelligence in far off galaxies? What are the implications of electric sand on Titan? And has Mars enjoyed a longer period of volcanic activity than even our own Earth?
Finally in other news, Dave announces the first detection of an atmosphere around a lower mass extrasolar planet.
About Our Guest
Dr. Quinn Konopacky is Assistant Professor at the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. She received her PhD from UCLA and performed postdoctoral research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics. Her work focuses on the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems.