Dr. Jaymie Matthews, Emeritus Professor

Jaymie Matthews calls himself an astrophysical “gossip columnist” who unveils the hidden lifestyles of stars by eavesdropping on “the music of the spheres.” His version of interstellar Spotify is Canada’s first space telescope, MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of STars), which detects vibrations in the light of ringing stars too subtle to be seen by the largest telescopes on Earth. MOST also makes Professor Matthews an “astro-paparazzo” by helping him spy on planets around other stars that might be homes for alien celebrities. Celebrities? Maybe not Wookies, but finding microbes on another world would qualify those microbes as newsmakers of the century.

Biography:

Matthews is a Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics in UBC Department of Physics & Astronomy.  Prof. Matthews is an expert in the fields of stellar seismology (literally using the surface vibrations of vibrating stars to probe their hidden interiors and histories) and exoplanetary science. He’s a member of the Executive Council for NASA’s Kepler satellite mission hunting for Earth- sized exoplanets in the Habitable Zones of their stars. He served on the Science Team for BRITE Constellation (BRIght Target Explorer) – a Canadian– Austrian–Polish satellite mission monitoring the brightest stars in the night sky. He’s an Associate Editor of the astronomy journal Frontiers, and an author on more than 200 refereed scientific papers.

In 2006, Prof. Matthews was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2012, he received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Address:The University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada