Hilltopper Astronomy Club Plans
Saturn Program July 1
June 23, 2004
Bowling Green, Ky. - Astronomers at Western Kentucky University and members of the Hilltopper Astronomy Club will provide a special presentation July 1 in recognition of the Cassini-Huygens mission's arrival at Saturn.
The spacecraft is on its final approach and ready to begin a four-year study of Saturn, its majestic rings and 31 known moons.
The Hilltopper Astronomy Club's presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. July 1 in the Hardin Planetarium. A multimedia presentation on Saturn and the Cassini mission will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
After the sun sets there will be an opportunity (weather permitting) to look through various small telescopes at Jupiter and the nearly full moon. Admission is free. Everyone is welcome; children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, is the second largest planet in our solar system, after Jupiter. The planet and its ring system serve as a model for the disk of gas and dust surrounding the early Sun that formed the planets. Detailed knowledge of the dynamics of interactions among Saturn's elaborate rings and numerous moons will provide valuable data for understanding how planetary systems form and evolve.
Cassini-Huygens is scheduled to enter orbit around Saturn at 9:36 p.m. CDT June 30, after a nearly seven-year journey covering 2.2 billion miles. As Cassini-Huygens hurtles close to the planet, the spacecraft will fire its main engine to reduce speed and allow it to be captured into orbit by Saturn's gravity. During Cassini's four-year mission, it will execute 52 close encounters with seven of Saturn's 31 known moons.
Hours before it establishes an orbit around Saturn, Cassini-Huygens will pass through a gap between two of Saturn's rings. The spacecraft will pass between the F and G rings, an apparently empty region which has been searched for hazards with the best Earth- and space-based telescopes and by Cassini itself. To protect the spacecraft from particles too small to be detected from Earth, Cassini will be turned to use its high-gain antenna as a shield.
The study of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is one of the major goals of the Cassini-Huygens mission. The spacecraft makes its first close fly-by of Titan on July 2. During the four-year mission, Cassini will execute 45 fly-bys of Titan, coming as close as approximately 600 miles above the surface. This will permit high-resolution mapping of the moon's surface with an imaging radar instrument, which can see through the dense haze of Titan's upper atmosphere. Titan's thick atmosphere contains many of the chemical compounds that preceded life on Earth.
Astronomers will use the data collected by Cassini-Huygens to look for answers to many fundamental questions about the physics, chemistry and evolution of the planets and the conditions that give rise to life.
For the latest images and more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
For information about the July 1 presentation at WKU, contact the Department of Physics and Astronomy at (270) 745-4357.
More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
