The Search for other Worlds (lecture and notes)

Firstly, you can get these three files yourself by going to the URLs outlined below. It will take a little work, but if you're worried about your ratio go to the sites listed and download the video, copy the transcripts and the power point presentation.

Secondly, this is a lecture with slide show. It is not a slick, commercial quality Discovery or BBC style documentary. In other words, it is not entertainment. It is a lecture. The quality of the video is not great because it is produced to live stream.

Amazingly, the website provides downloads for just about everything is presents (100s of lectures.) It's an incredible resource for anyone wishing to actually learn something. I've downloaded many, many of them and am getting what other materials are available (lecture notes, transcripts etc.)

If enough interest is shown, I'll provide the lecture video, transcripts, ppt presentation, take a few screen shots and post them with the release.

But this can all be done by you at fora.tv. There is a search function. I highly recommend the site.

Fora.tv release URL:

http://fora.tv/2009/01/22/Ian_Morison_The_Search_for_Other_Worlds

Transcripts and Lecture Notes Power Point Presentation:

http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=45&EventId=822

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Lecture Summary

Professor Ian Morison discusses one of the hottest topics in astronomy: detecting other solar systems. The methods by which this has been achieved so far have yet to detect an earth-like planet, but already a miniature version of our solar system has been discovered.

How do these discoveries affect the prospects for life elsewhere?

Lecturer Bio

Ian Morison - Gresham Professor of Astronomy Ian Morison made his first telescope at the age of 12 with lenses given to him by his optician. Having studied Physics, Maths and Astronomy at Oxford, he became a radio astronomer at the Jodrell Bank Observatory and teaches Astronomy and Cosmology at the University of Manchester.

Over 25 years he has also taught Observational Astronomy to many hundreds of adult students in the North West of England. An active amateur optical astronomer, he is a council member and past president of the Society for Popular Astronomy in the United Kingdom.

At Jodrell Bank he was a designer of the 217 KM MERLIN array and has coordinated the Project Phoenix SETI Observations using the Lovell Radio Telescope. He contributes astronomy articles and reviews for New Scientist and Astronomy Now, and produces a monthly sky guide on the Observatory's website.

Fora.TV Release Profile

01. How to Spot Other Planets with Infrared 07 min 02 sec
02. A Planet Seen Visually 04 min 31 sec
03. Indirect Detection Methods 04 min 42 sec
04. First Planet Discovered 06 min 46 sec
05. Calculating the Mass of Planets 02 min 08 sec
06. Things Found Orbiting Stars 03 min 18 sec
07. Astrometric Method and Planetary Transits 07 min 01 sec
08. Cameras Pointed into Space 01 min 58 sec
09. Gravitational Microlensing to Detect Earth-like Planets 09 min 13 sec
10. Other Missions to Observe Planets 05 min 00 sec
11. New Techniques in Development 06 min 36 sec

gSpot Technical Details

Size: 153 MB (156,879 KB / 160,644,724 bytes)
Created: 2009 Jun 12 21:27:07
Container: MP4 v2 [ISO 14496-14]
Codec: mp4a, MPEG-4 AAC LC
Recommended Display Size: 640 x 480

Enjoy!