The first talk of the Fall 2013 semester as part of George Mason Observatory’s ‘Evenings Under the Stars’ series (where you’ll also get to look at awesome galaxies, stars, planets and more through our 0.8 meter telescope!) will be ‘How will the Kanamits serve mankind?‘ by Dr. Harold Geller.  As always the event is free and everyone is invited (details about the event: Monday 26 August 2013: Talk at 8 PM. Same talk at 8:45PM   Observing starts at 8:30PM until 10PM. Arrive at the lobby of Research Hall. )! We’ll hold the event regardless of whether we’ll have to cancel observing due to weather – and as a bonus you’ll get to brush up on your twilight zone eps! – updates will be available here – Observatory Twitter

A little about the upcoming talk:

Dr. Harold Geller will speak about the expectations associated with future visits of extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations in a talk titled How will the Kanamits serve mankind? Shall we expect extraterrestrial altruism or extraterrestrial malevolence?

And the speaker:

Dr. Harold A. Geller is a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador and the GMU Observatory Director.  He is currently Associate Professor of Astronomy and Observatory Director at George Mason University (GMU).  Dr. Geller received his doctorate and master’s degrees from GMU.  He has taught astronomy full-time for the past 13 years after having been an adjunct instructor for 8 years.  In 2010 he shared in four Telly Awards and in 2009 two Telly Awards for a series of online videos with Astrocast.TV.  In 2008 Dr. Geller was awarded the GMU Faculty Member of the Year, the same year he published a book on astrobiology.  Other past achievements include award winning tour guide and lecturer with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; past President of the Potomac Geophysical Society; developer of two educational multimedia CD-ROMs; faculty at Northern Virginia Community College; doctoral fellow of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; and, lecturer/operator at the Einstein Planetarium in the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.  Dr. Geller has contributed to over 50 publications in education, astrophysics, astrobiology, and biochemistry.

Directions to GMU and Research Hall here: http://eagle.gmu.edu/map/fairfax.php  Zoom in to find Research Hall next to engineering building and York River Rd