A professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado will be giving a lecture about the New Horizons Mission Monday.
The lecture will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the McMurtry Auditorium in Duncan Hall at the university.
During the lecture, Dr. Fran Bagenal will discuss how the New Horizons mission provided the world’s first close-up view of Pluto and its five moons.
Pluto’s surface is remarkably diverse with a wide range of terrain ages, morphology, color, and composition. There is also strong evidence for a water-ice crust and a geologically young surface. Pluto’s tenuous atmosphere also extends to much higher altitudes than anticipated and contains trace hydrocarbons and an extensive global haze layer. The largest satellite charon also shows a surprisingly diverse surface but no evidence for an atmosphere. These results raise challenging questions about the processes that power small planets long after their formation.
For more information visit http://rsi.rice.edu/.