Dome Talks Speaker Series featuring Stephen Kane

Dome Talks are back! During this summer series held in our iconic dome, authors, and scientists from across the region share their work, research, and ideas in an informal, engaging setting. Topics span science, history, and the world around us, offering fresh ways to think about big questions, from our place in the universe to the forces shaping life on Earth. Dome Talks will take place in the Fisk Gallery.

Thursday, October 8, 2026
Stephen Kane (UC Riverside)
Planetary habitability in the solar system and beyond.
Understanding planetary habitability is one of the major challenges of the current scientific era. Though traditionally viewed through the lens of our home planet and its evolutionary history, data from other Solar System objects, and a plethora of planets outside of our Solar System, are shedding new light on habitability research. This presentation will discuss the factors that contribute to planetary habitability, and how these pieces fit together in an inter-disciplinary pathway that will benefit both the understanding of the evolution of Earth’s habitability and identifying possible abodes of life elsewhere throughout the universe.

Stephen Kane is a Professor of Planetary Astrophysics at the University of California, Riverside. His work covers a broad range of topics and he has discovered hundreds of planets orbiting other stars. He is a leading expert on the topic of planetary habitability, the habitable zone of planetary systems, and the study of why Venus and Earth underwent divergent evolutions. He has published hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific papers as well as several books on the topic of exoplanets and habitability.  He is also a prominent scientific leader for several NASA missions designed to search for life in the universe.

Doors open at 6:30. Talk begins at 7:00.

Tickets are first come first serve. Purchasing ahead on Eventbrite is encouraged.

General Admission – $20, plus processing fees

Members – $17, plus processing fees

Parking is free, and the museum is accessible to persons with disabilities.