November 16, 2018 7-9PM

Event Type: Lecture and Stargazing
Title: Planets Big and Small
Lecturer: Eve Lee
Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Institution: Caltech
Abstract:
Planets come in a variety of sizes. Even in our own solar system, Jupiter is approximately ten times larger than the Earth, and Mercury is about three times smaller than the Earth. Why are some planets larger/smaller than others? I will discuss the physics that determines the final size of the planets and what it tells us about how such planets are born, both in solar and extrasolar systems.