DTM Staff Scientist Alan Boss is the honored 2012 Carl K. Seyfert Lecturer in Physics at Vanderbilt University. As a Seyfert Lecturer, Boss will be giving both a colloquium and a talk at Dyer Observatory where he will present recent results of the Kepler mission. His colloquium, “Kepler, Microlensing, and Direct Imaging: New Constraints on Exoplanet Formation Theories” will be presented at 4 p.m. on March 15, 2012 in the Community Room of the Central Library at Vanderbilt.

Boss' second talk, is at Dyer Observatory, at 7 p.m. on March 15. The talk is open to the public and is the topic of Boss' most recent book: "The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets."

The Kepler mission, launched March 6, 2009, is set to determine the frequency of Earth size and larger planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars. It also hopes to determine the size and orbital period distributions of planets. The Kepler telescope has revealed 2326 exoplanets. Boss will be discussing his theories on exoplanet formation and the future of the Kepler mission.

The Carl K. Seyfert Lecture series is held in honor of Carl Keenan Seyfert, an influential astronomy professor at Vanderbilt University. His contributions to the university’s astronomy program helped create Dyer Observatory, where a telescope was later named in his honor. Seyfert galaxies and the Seyfert lunar crater are also named after Carl Seyfert for his astronomical discoveries.

Boss said, "I am excited to have the opportunity to be the 2012 Carl Seyfert Lecturer at Vanderbilt University. Carl Seyfert's name has entered the astronomical lexicon as the discoverer of an entire class of active galactic nuclei. In addition, my dear colleague Vera Rubin was the 1983 Seyfert Lecturer, and it is truly an honor to follow in her distinguished footsteps."

For more information about Alan Boss as the Carl K. Seyfert Lecturer in Physics, click here.