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Dr. Runyon’s presentation on Ultima Thule and NASA’s future plans for the Kuiper Belt exploration.
June 2, 2019 @ 17:00 - 19:30
$10 – $15About the Speaker
Dr. Kirby Runyon is a postdoctoral planetary geologist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD. He specializes in geologic interpretation of images and other data of planetary surfaces in addition to conducting laboratory experiments on impact cratering-related processes.
He is a science team member on multiple NASA robotic planetary missions, including Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars2020 Rover, and New Horizons. His humble brag is that he was the first to discover mountains on Pluto in the first images returned from Pluto by New Horizons. He worked New Year’s Day analyzing the first images sent back from New Horizons of the mysterious, icy Kuiper Belt Object Ultima Thule. He will be speaking about the current exploration of the Kuiper Belt and future formulative plans to continue its exploration and will speak on New Horizons’ flyby of Ultima as well as plans to have a future interstellar probe flyby of the small planet Quaoar on its way out of the solar system.
He stated that — “Landscapes across the solar system are as aesthetically beautiful as they are scientifically rich. Images from the surfaces of planets beyond Earth are currently limited to the Moon, Mars, Titan, and Venus, and Comet 67P. Many are familiar with rover images from Mars’ surface, so we will focus on landscapes—both their beauty and science—of the Moon, Venus, and Titan, with speculation on views from the surface of Europa. Orbital and flyby images of places we have not yet landed on will whet the appetite for a return to these planets, such as Pluto, Triton, and Io.”
More on Dr. Kirby Runyon
When
June 2, 2019 5 PM to 7 :30 PM
Where
The Stargazers are holding this meeting at Smyrna Presbyterian Church located at 118 W Commerce St). We are his meeting at the Church and this will take place of our June 4th meeting and have scheduled a chicken dinner w for $10 per person or $15 per family. Contact Lyle (302-382-3764) if you have questions. The meeting will start at 5 pm for dinner and end around 7:15 pm. Everyone is welcome and the Stargazers hope to see astronomers and teachers from throughout Delmarva.
Tickets
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Lyle Jones
Delmarva Stargazers