Clues to the Origins of our Solar System

Posted on 05 January 2016

Travel back almost 5 billion years with Vivian White, of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, to discover how our Sun and planets formed from a cloud of dust. See how today’s scientists are using clues from all over our Solar System and beyond to piece together our humble beginnings. Find out what questions we still have and how we aim to answer them with future missions.

Vivian White has been an astronomy educator with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for a decade. She uses her degree in physics, a Dobsonian telescope, and a fascination with human learning to inspire people to look up in wonder at the riches of the night sky.

Vivian designs activities for the NASA Night Sky Network, a coalition of over 450 astronomy clubs across the US. Her love of the sky has taken her far and wide – the most recent adventures include teaching astronomy to Buddhist monks in India, visiting cloud top observatories in Chile, and giving tours of the sky on the White House lawn. Her blog is called My Head is in the Stars.

This program is part of a series of events in celebration of One Book One Marin 2016, a county-wide reading program, whose featured title this year is The Martian, by Andy Weir. Tons of events are happening county-wide. Hope to see you there!