Lecturer to Give Insight on Death of Stars and Planets Jan. 27

MELBOURNE, FLA.—In the latest installment of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Public Lecture Series, the Florida Institute of Technology Department of Physics and Space Sciences will host a presentation by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Ted von Hippel, assistant professor, Department of Physical Sciences. He will present “White Dwarf Debris Disks: The Death of Stars and Planets” Jan. 27, from 8 to 9 p.m. in the F.W. Olin Engineering Complex, Room EC118 in a free presentation. Weather permitting, rooftop public star viewing will follow.

What will happen to the Earth and other planets in the Solar System when the Sun runs out of hydrogen? Speaker von Hippel will introduce white dwarfs and their debris disks, then tie these objects to planets and other Solar System bodies and their eventual demise.

Research interests of von Hippel include stellar evolution, the age of the Milky Way and its constituents, the search for planets and the remote detection of extraterrestrial life. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Dartmouth College and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan. He joined Embry-Riddle last fall.

The F.W. Olin Engineering Complex is located on West University Boulevard. For more information, call (321) 674-7207or visitwww.fit.edu/aapls.