John Bally will discuss the birth of stars, the formation of planets and the origin of the solar system during his live astronomy show "Formation of Planetary Systems" at CU-Boulder's Fiske Planetarium on Friday, March 3, and Tuesday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m.
For centuries, astronomers have theorized about how the Earth and Sun formed. "But now, for the first time in history, we are beginning to understand the birth of stars and planets," said Bally, an associate professor in the astrophysical and planetary sciences department at CU-Boulder.
On average, about 10 stars are born somewhere in the Milky Way galaxy each year, he said. Using instruments like the Hubble Space Telescope and giant radio telescopes, scientists can watch the same processes that gave birth to "our" solar system 4.5 billion years ago.
"The Fiske Planetarium show will be richly illustrated with the latest Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based images," Bally said. "Many of the new pictures have not yet been released to the public. This show will be an opportunity for the public to see the most recent and up-to-date research results from the world聮s great observations."
Bally will explore with the audience one of the nearest stellar nurseries in the Orion Nebula, which is located below the Belt stars in the winter constellation of Orion. Star birth and planet formation is an on-going process, Bally explained. Stellar birth occurs in the midst of rapidly collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Young stars expel powerful jets of hot plasma which slam into the surrounding environment, resulting in patches of glowing light.
"The Hubble Space Telescope has revealed that the majority of the hundreds of young stars born in the Orion Nebula within the last few hundred thousand years are surrounded by spinning disks of gas and dust, similar to what astronomers think formed the solar system billions of years ago," Bally said.
But will Orion聮s disks form planets? Or will the violent environment of star birth leave Orion聮s stars barren, without planetary systems. Bally hopes to answer such questions during his lecture at Fiske Planetarium.
Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children and seniors. Tickets go on sale at 7 p.m. the night of the show.
For more information about Fiske Planetarium and other shows and programs it offers to the public and educators call (303) 492-5001 or visit the Web site at .