Church of the Cosmos

Greetings Fellow Cosmonauts!

Please join us VIRTUALLY tonight (Wednesday, May 20th) for the 4th installment in our 6-week series Experiencing James Webb: The Invisible Universe Revealed.

Tonight we will watch 2 lectures focused on how the James Webb telescope is advancing our understanding of Dark Matter and Black Holes.

A summary of tonight's features is below:

Searching for Life in the Universe (2026, 33 min)

If life exists elsewhere in the universe, it is most likely to arise on worlds with liquid water, temperate conditions, and atmospheres rich in molecules such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane. Webb is the most powerful instrument for probing the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars. Learn how astronomers find these exoplanets and what Webb is already revealing about them.

Examining Exoplanets (2026, 31 min)

Investigate Webb’s first-ever measurements of the atmospheres of rocky, Earth-sized exoplanets. Many orbit small, cool M-dwarf stars—common in the galaxy but prone to violent stellar flares that can strip away planetary atmospheres, posing a challenge for any life. Also study the nearby TRAPPIST-1 system, just 40 light-years away, and what Webb’s observations reveal about possible habitability.

Don't worry if you don't know anything about this subject matter. No prior understanding of astronomy, black holes or dark energy is required to appreciate tonight's programs and to participate in the discussion period.

This is a safe-space for science and for humans who want to talk about science freely.
You're also welcome to join/leave the video chat at your discretion without penalty or comment. Same goes for RSVPs - they're appreciated, but not mandatory.

And don't forget: CotC now has a Discord Server! So the good times can
keep rolling even after the meetup ends!!!
Follow this link to join: https://discord.gg/Jdg3MC5

Now for some administrative details....
I will open up the virtual meeting at 8PM. The viewing will start promptly at 8:25PM. Again, the link to the virtual meet-up room is below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82231579720

There is an optional suggested donation of $2 which helps pay for our group membership to The Great Courses Plus. You can donate through the following methods:

Venmo: @reece-daniel

Greetings Fellow Cosmonauts!

This is a placeholder for our regular Wednesday night meetings. I will post the details here for each particular event once I have them. In the meantime, feel free to RSVP, comment, or check out the CotC Discord Server for all the latest science-y gifs and links:

Greetings Fellow Cosmonauts!

This is a placeholder for our regular Wednesday night meetings. I will post the details here for each particular event once I have them. In the meantime, feel free to RSVP, comment, or check out the CotC Discord Server for all the latest science-y gifs and links:

Greetings Fellow Cosmonauts!

This is a placeholder for our regular Wednesday night meetings. I will post the details here for each particular event once I have them. In the meantime, feel free to RSVP, comment, or check out the CotC Discord Server for all the latest science-y gifs and links: