MIfA Public Lecture: "Comets: The Rosetta Stone of the Solar System"
You're invited to a Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics Public Lecture featuring Professor Robert Gehrz. This virtual lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
About the lecture
Professor Robert Gehrz will be describing the origin of comets and their relationship to the formation and evolution of the solar system. Just as the Rosetta Stone was the key to cracking the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic code, comets are the key to understanding the origins of the solar system and, perhaps, life on Earth. The formation of comets, their structure and contents, and their relationship to the formation and evolution of the solar system will be described. Dangers posed by comet debris strikes on Earth and strategies for mitigating them will be discussed.
Professor Gehrz received his B.A. in Physics in 1967 and a Ph.D. in Physics from the U of M in 1971. Since 1985 he has been a Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Observatories at the University of Minnesota.