11th John Halliday Lecture in Astronomy Featuring Carolyn Porco
In the Land of Enchantment: Cassini Explores the Saturn System
05/25/2011 Wednesday 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
A glistening spaceship, with seven lonely years and billions of miles behind it, glides into orbit around a ringed, softly-hued planet. A flying-saucer shaped machine descends through a hazy atmosphere and lands on the surface of an alien moon, ten times farther from the Sun than the Earth. Fantastic though they seem, these visions are not a dream. The Cassini spacecraft and its Huygens probe have traveled invisible interplanetary roads to the place we call Saturn. Their successful entry into orbit, the mythic landing of Huygens on the cold, dark equatorial plains of Titan, and Cassini's subsequent explorations of the saturnian environment are already the stuff of legend. What they have shown us thus far, and the images they have collected, are being closely examined in the pursuit of precise scientific information on the nature of this very alien planetary system.
This presentation will highlight the findings returned thus far by these emissaries from Earth to the enchanting realm of Saturn.
FREE and open to the public. Reservations highly recommended via the web link below. Guests who register for the event will be given priority in line. Walk-in seats will be available until the theater is full. This event is expected to sell-out.
Off Campus
Rio Theater
1205 Soquel Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Open to Public
Free
650