Universe in the Park: In-Person Badger Talk at Peninsula State Park, Fish Creek, WI

Join presenters Eli Sofovich and Eshan Raul on August 11, 2025, at 8:30 PM at Peninsula State Park for Universe in the Park. Enjoy a 30–40 minute astronomy talk at sunset, followed by telescope viewing (weather permitting). Great for ages 8+ (talk) and 4+ (viewing). Parking is adjacent to the nature center.

Presenter Eli Sofovich earned a B.S. in Astronomy and Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently seeking a Ph.D. as a graduate student at UW-Madison’s Department of Astronomy. His broad interests lie in astrobiology and the hunt to answer the question “Are we alone in the universe,” which he seeks to answer through his research with Prof. Zoe Todd to better understand how life could originate on exoplanets by examining the delivery of the chemicals necessary for life through comets and asteroids.

Presenter Eshan Raul holds a B.S. in Astronomy/Astrophysics from the University of Michigan and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research primarily revolves around studying exoplanets, or planets outside of our solar system. Specifically, he is using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to determine the compositions of their atmospheres in the search for life in the Universe, the underlying motivation for his research. Similarly, he is also using JWST to analyze the chemical abundances of terrestrial planet-forming regions of protoplanetary disks, in order to figure out just how special our own solar system really is.

You may also like the following events from Badger Talks:

• This Thursday, 31st July, 11:00 am, "The Wonder of Physics": In-Person Badger Talk in Saukville, WI in Saukville
• This Saturday, 2nd August, 02:30 pm, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The Ship, the Storm, and the Song": In-Person in Coloma, WI in Coloma
• This Saturday, 2nd August, 08:30 pm, Universe in the Park: In-Person Badger Talk at Brunet Island State Park, Cornell, WI in Cornell