What if Galileo had a space telescope?
Date: Saturday, May 23, 2009 Time: 1:30 PM 2:30 PM Location: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre – 1961 East Mall, Point Grey Campus Cost: FREE Four centuries ago, Galileo trained a small telescope on a wandering star to discover it was not just a twinkling point of light but another world. Astronomers around the world are marking the anniversary with the International Year of Astronomy 2009. Galileo’s discovery literally turned the world of astronomical thought upside down. Today, there’s a tiny space telescope that is changing our understanding of the cosmos – one that was designed and built right here at UBC. Join Dr. Jaymie Matthews as he shares discoveries made by the MOST satellite, Canada’s first space telescope, which is not much bigger than Galileo’s original telescope but capable of measurements beyond the abilities of almost every other observatory in the world. Like Galileo, MOST is also turning photons of light into fully realised perceptions of worlds – in this case, around