Speaker: Supriya Chakrabarti, UMass Lowell
January 10, 2026
5:00 – 5:45 pm

Developing Technologies for Imaging Exoplanets and Nanosatellites with Students

Although the existence of over 6,000 exoplanets has been confirmed, we still do not have a single image of such a planet in visible light. At UMass Lowell we are developing technologies and tools necessary for direct imaging of exoplanets and their environments, and are the only team that has validated them outside the laboratory. UMass Lowell has flown experiments on two NASA sounding rockets and three NASA high altitude balloons. They are also developing a new nanosatellite format called Chickadee. Kiwi, the version for classroom use, is about the size of a hockey puck. All this work includes students in meaningful roles. In this talk, Supriya Chakrabarti will describe the PICTURE series of flight experiments and show Kiwi in action.

Tickets & Important Information

Time: Second Saturday of every month, 5:00 pm
Duration: Approximately 40 minutes
Cost: $6 for members, $7 for non-members (per person). General museum admission will not be charged for members or guests arriving after 4:30 pm on Speaker Series days.
Location: Alden Planetarium
Age Range: All ages are welcome. Recommended 15+

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