THE PARRISH ART MUSEUM OFFERS GUIDED TELESCOPE VIEWING AND LECTURE ON THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE!!

Astronomer Matthew Pappas will deliver an illustrated talk entitled “Inevitable Discovery: The Scientific Search for Life Beyond Earth” at 6 pm, Friday, January 18, at the Parrish Art Museum. Also on Friday, guided telescope viewing will take place on the Parrish’s covered terrace, weather permitting, between 4 and 8 pm. Viewings of the night sky are offered in collaboration with the Montauk Observatory, Suffolk County Community College, and Dark Sky Society.

Matthew Pappas’s lecture, like the guided telescope viewing, is an element of (Sky)gaze, which is, in turn, a component of Hope Sandrow’s ongoing project Genius Loci, a series of site-specific events and projects that evoke “the spirit of place.” (Sky)gaze refers to the ancient practice of seeking information about one’s environment by observing the sky.
According to Matthew Pappas, Associate Professor of Astronomy at Suffolk County Community College, never before in the course of human history have scientists been as close to determining whether there is life beyond our planet. His talk will illuminate how such a discovery may be well within our grasp.

Originally from Massachusetts, Matthew Pappas received his B.S. in Physics from the University of Massachusetts and his M.A. in Astronomy at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Matthew has been teaching at Suffolk County Community College since moving to Long Island in 2000. Along with his work at SCCC Matthew is also an adjunct at Stony Brook University and has worked on projects at Brookhaven National Lab and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

**Both the lecture and guided telescope viewing are free with Museum admission!