HOWARD ISAACSON
I am a professional astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley,  searching for signs of life beyond the Earth
My research is generously supported by funding from NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and other public and private people and organizations that support research in physics sciences.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
After a somewhat non-traditional educational path, I reached a milestone in my career when I graduated and became a professional Astronomer in 2009. In spring of that year, NASA's Kepler spacecraft launched and began to change astronomy, as well as my own professional career.  Since then, my research has been driven by ground based observations from telescopes across the world. Most importantly, those observations have taken place at Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton in California, and at the Keck Observatory on the summit of Maunakea in Hawai'i.  Feel free to get in touch with me to say hi or for more information about my work.
MY RESEARCH
My research spans the cosmic realm of exoplanets, nearby stars, and the search for life universe.
-- EXOPLANETS --
CALIFORNIA PLANET SEARCH
Observations from ground based telescopes, including those at Lick and Keck Observatory helped to detect the first exoplanets around sun-like stars. Space based telescopes such as NASA's Kepler spacecraft have shown that 1 in 5 stars like the sun has a planet like Earth. Kepler identified thousands of individual exoplanets, many of which we characterized by measuring their masses at Keck Observatory.
-- SETI --
BREAKTHROUGH LISTEN
The Breakthrough Listen search for intelligent life in the universe utilizes the most powerful telescopes in the world. From Australia, South Africa, and West Virginia to Northern California and Arizona the search spans not only the globe but the electromagnetic spectrum as well. Optical searches for laser lines and pulses complement the radio searches from narrow band signals that can only be produced by technology.
CONTACT ME
501 Campbell Hall, University of California at Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-3411
