Astronomer speaks on tools for exploring other life in the universe at UW-Stevens Point

Are we alone in the universe? This question that has been asked for more than 2,000 years, and we now possess the tools and techniques necessary to answer it. This topic will be explored in a free lecture at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Friday, Oct. 24.

Presenting with Badger Talks, Assistant Professor of Astronomy Thomas Beatty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Astronomy will discuss what we want to look for on other planets to see if there is life and how we have started this search using current and future telescopes.

The lecture will be presented at 6 p.m. in Room 105 of the Haeni Chemistry Biology Building, 2101 Fourth Ave., Stevens Point. The presentation is free and open to the public. The event included as part of the Wisconsin Science Festival, statewide events taking place from Oct. 16-26, 2025.

Beatty earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s in physics from MIT and a PhD in astronomy from Ohio State University. Before teaching at UW-Madison, he worked as an instrument scientist on the James Webb Space Telescope where he helped build one of Webb’s cameras and helped to operate it once Webb reached space. His research focuses on measuring the atmospheres of exoplanets, planets around other stars to figure out what they are made out of and what their climates are like, to understand how planets form and search for life elsewhere in the universe. He has also discovered nine new exoplanets.