Wed January 28, 2015
Pluto on the Horizon: Anticipating our First Encounter with the Double Planet
SEE EVENT DETAILS
On Wednesday, January 28, 2015, at 7 pm, Dr. Mark Showalter (of the SETI Institute) will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk on: Pluto on the Horizon: Anticipating our First Encounter with the Double Planet
in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos.
The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 15th year.
The more we learn about Pluto, the more interesting it becomes. In the last decade, four tiny moons have been discovered orbiting the central "binary planet," which consists of Pluto and its large moon Charon. Pluto itself has a thin atmosphere and shows signs of seasonal changes. Tantalizing evidence suggests that Charon may have volcanoes. However, even in our most powerful telescopes, Pluto and its moons are just dots in the sky. All of that will change on July 14, 2015, when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will fly past Pluto and provide our first close-up look at these distant worlds. In this free, illustrated public lecture, Dr. Mark Showalter, a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission, will describe how he discovered two of the moons of Pluto and will set the scene for the exploration that is in store.
Dr. Mark Showalter is an astronomer at the SETI Institute who studies the dynamics of rings and small moons in the Solar System. His early work with Voyager data led to the discoveries of Jupiter's faint, outer "gossamer" rings and Saturn's tiny ring-moon, Pan. Starting in 2003, his observations with the Hubble Space Telescope led to the discoveries of "Mab" and "Cupid," small moons of Uranus now named after characters from Shakespeare's plays. In 2011, he began a Hubble observing program focused on Pluto, which led to the discoveries of two tiny moons. Their names, "Kerberos" and "Styx", were selected through an international naming campaign. Most recently, he discovered the 14th known moon of Neptune, whose permanent name has yet to be selected.
Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos. For directions and parking information, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/transportation.php
For a campus map, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/maps.php
The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
* The SETI Institute
* NASA Ames Research Center
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program.
We expect large crowds, so we ask people to try to arrive a little bit early to find parking. The lecture is free, but there is a charge of $3 for parking on campus and exact change is appreciated.
Past lectures in the series can be found on YouTube at http:// https://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures
show less
in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos.
The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 15th year.
The more we learn about Pluto, the more interesting it becomes. In the last decade, four tiny moons have been discovered orbiting the central "binary planet," which consists of Pluto and its large moon Charon. Pluto itself has a thin atmosphere and shows signs of seasonal changes. Tantalizing evidence suggests that Charon may have volcanoes. However, even in our most powerful telescopes, Pluto and its moons are just dots in the sky. All of that will change on July 14, 2015, when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will fly past Pluto and provide our first close-up look at these distant worlds. In this free, illustrated public lecture, Dr. Mark Showalter, a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission, will describe how he discovered two of the moons of Pluto and will set the scene for the exploration that is in store.
Dr. Mark Showalter is an astronomer at the SETI Institute who studies the dynamics of rings and small moons in the Solar System. His early work with Voyager data led to the discoveries of Jupiter's faint, outer "gossamer" rings and Saturn's tiny ring-moon, Pan. Starting in 2003, his observations with the Hubble Space Telescope led to the discoveries of "Mab" and "Cupid," small moons of Uranus now named after characters from Shakespeare's plays. In 2011, he began a Hubble observing program focused on Pluto, which led to the discoveries of two tiny moons. Their names, "Kerberos" and "Styx", were selected through an international naming campaign. Most recently, he discovered the 14th known moon of Neptune, whose permanent name has yet to be selected.
Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos. For directions and parking information, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/transportation.php
For a campus map, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/maps.php
The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
* The SETI Institute
* NASA Ames Research Center
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program.
We expect large crowds, so we ask people to try to arrive a little bit early to find parking. The lecture is free, but there is a charge of $3 for parking on campus and exact change is appreciated.
Past lectures in the series can be found on YouTube at http:// https://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures
On Wednesday, January 28, 2015, at 7 pm, Dr. Mark Showalter (of the SETI Institute) will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk on: Pluto on the Horizon: Anticipating our First Encounter with the Double Planet
in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos.
The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 15th year.
The more we learn about Pluto, the more interesting it becomes. In the last decade, four tiny moons have been discovered orbiting the central "binary planet," which consists of Pluto and its large moon Charon. Pluto itself has a thin atmosphere and shows signs of seasonal changes. Tantalizing evidence suggests that Charon may have volcanoes. However, even in our most powerful telescopes, Pluto and its moons are just dots in the sky. All of that will change on July 14, 2015, when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will fly past Pluto and provide our first close-up look at these distant worlds. In this free, illustrated public lecture, Dr. Mark Showalter, a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission, will describe how he discovered two of the moons of Pluto and will set the scene for the exploration that is in store.
Dr. Mark Showalter is an astronomer at the SETI Institute who studies the dynamics of rings and small moons in the Solar System. His early work with Voyager data led to the discoveries of Jupiter's faint, outer "gossamer" rings and Saturn's tiny ring-moon, Pan. Starting in 2003, his observations with the Hubble Space Telescope led to the discoveries of "Mab" and "Cupid," small moons of Uranus now named after characters from Shakespeare's plays. In 2011, he began a Hubble observing program focused on Pluto, which led to the discoveries of two tiny moons. Their names, "Kerberos" and "Styx", were selected through an international naming campaign. Most recently, he discovered the 14th known moon of Neptune, whose permanent name has yet to be selected.
Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos. For directions and parking information, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/transportation.php
For a campus map, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/maps.php
The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
* The SETI Institute
* NASA Ames Research Center
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program.
We expect large crowds, so we ask people to try to arrive a little bit early to find parking. The lecture is free, but there is a charge of $3 for parking on campus and exact change is appreciated.
Past lectures in the series can be found on YouTube at http:// https://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures
read more
in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos.
The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 15th year.
The more we learn about Pluto, the more interesting it becomes. In the last decade, four tiny moons have been discovered orbiting the central "binary planet," which consists of Pluto and its large moon Charon. Pluto itself has a thin atmosphere and shows signs of seasonal changes. Tantalizing evidence suggests that Charon may have volcanoes. However, even in our most powerful telescopes, Pluto and its moons are just dots in the sky. All of that will change on July 14, 2015, when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will fly past Pluto and provide our first close-up look at these distant worlds. In this free, illustrated public lecture, Dr. Mark Showalter, a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission, will describe how he discovered two of the moons of Pluto and will set the scene for the exploration that is in store.
Dr. Mark Showalter is an astronomer at the SETI Institute who studies the dynamics of rings and small moons in the Solar System. His early work with Voyager data led to the discoveries of Jupiter's faint, outer "gossamer" rings and Saturn's tiny ring-moon, Pan. Starting in 2003, his observations with the Hubble Space Telescope led to the discoveries of "Mab" and "Cupid," small moons of Uranus now named after characters from Shakespeare's plays. In 2011, he began a Hubble observing program focused on Pluto, which led to the discoveries of two tiny moons. Their names, "Kerberos" and "Styx", were selected through an international naming campaign. Most recently, he discovered the 14th known moon of Neptune, whose permanent name has yet to be selected.
Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos. For directions and parking information, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/transportation.php
For a campus map, see: http://www.foothill.edu/news/maps.php
The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
* The SETI Institute
* NASA Ames Research Center
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program.
We expect large crowds, so we ask people to try to arrive a little bit early to find parking. The lecture is free, but there is a charge of $3 for parking on campus and exact change is appreciated.
Past lectures in the series can be found on YouTube at http:// https://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures
show less
Date/Times:
12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
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