Video Fridays: Astronomer Jill Tarter

Astronomer, Dr. Jill Tarter, was the inspiration behind for the protagonist in Carl Sagan’s novel, Contact. Funny thing that her comment about being a little kid looking up at the stars and imagining a another little kid on a distant planet doing the same thing was “borrowed” by John Cusack’s character in the 1985 teen comedy, The Sure Thing. And I remember teaching around 2000 when astronomers confirmed the existence of an extra-solar planet around a distant star. I learned about this watching the PBS series, The Astronomers, and they mentioned looking for a planet circling Beta Pictoris. Today that are over 5,000 confirmed exoplanets circling other star systems. We live in amazing times, provided one stays curious and humble. Enjoy.

Sources:

The true story behind Carl Sagan’s cult classic, Contact | Jill Tarter for Big Think posted by Big Think (2022-08-16), https://youtu.be/r4d6kI_b88o?si=fn_HActW5y3Sn5Mt
Discoveries of exoplanets, wikipedia (retrieved 2024-07-11), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discoveries_of_exoplanets
Prospecting for Planets, The Astronomers, Episode 6 (1991), [DVD] https://amzn.to/3S2kcCh
Beta Pictoris, wikipedia (retrieved 2024-07-11), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Pictoris
Astronomer Explains How SETI Searches for Aliens posted by Wired (2029-10-01), https://youtu.be/UVlUy77d-MU?si=JPnBDNAWdQjvnkZf