The search for extraterrestrial life is one of the most exciting frontiers in science.

An extraordinary interstellar meteor, CNEOS 2014-01-08, also known as interstellar object `Oumuamua and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) near Earth passed through our solar system in 2017 and is currently cruising between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. : You can track ‘Oumuamua’s current location and speed through a live tracker by @SpaceIn3Dsite or at 

https://spacein3d.com/asteroid-oumuamua-live-tracker/.

Scientists have yet to classify Oumuamua, partly because they honestly have no idea. At first, they thought it was an asteroid—a large chunk of rock from a distant star system. Then, a comet—a cosmic iceberg flung loose from somewhere in the great unknown. Now scientists and researchers are stumped. Only left to speculate, with little data, what the cosmic visitor is as it gets further and further from view.

This lecture concerning Oumuamua will be lead by Avi Loeb, Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science, at Harvard University. Avi is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University’ 'Black Hole Initiative', director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011–2020). Avi chairs the advisory board for the Breakthrough Starshot project, and is a former member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies.

Avi had been the longest serving Chair of Harvard Department of Astronomy and the Founding
Director of Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of
Arts &Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics.
Loeb is a former member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
(PCAST) at the White House, a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the
National Academies, opics, including black holes, the first stars, the search for extraterrestrial
life and the future of the Universe. Loeb is the Director of the Institute for Theory and
Computation within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and also serves as the
Head of the Galileo Project. In 2012, TIME magazine selected Loeb as one
of the 25 most influential people in space and in 2020 Loeb was selected among the
14 most inspiring Israelis of the last decade.
Personal website: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/

Avi is the bestselling author of 'Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth" and a co-author of the textbook" Life in the Cosmos', both published in 2021. 

This exciting program is brought to you by the Martha's Vineyard Library Association. Please contact tthorpe@clamsnet.org or amcdonough@clamsnet.org for Zoom link.