'Encountering the First Dwarf Planet: The Dawn Mission to Ceres' at Foothill College APRIL 8

From Foothill College Astronomy:

As part of the 15th annual Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, Marc Rayman, Ph.D., the mission director for NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft, will discuss Encountering the First Dwarf Planet: The Dawn Mission to Ceres, an illustrated, non-technical lecture Wednesday, April 8, at 7 p.m. in the Smithwick Theatre at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills.

Admission is free and the public is invited. Seating is first come, first served. Arrive early to locate parking.

NASA’s Dawn mission has arrived in orbit around Ceres—the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt and the first dwarf planet to be discovered. Ceres is among the last uncharted worlds in the solar system, and one of the largest leftovers from the formation of our solar system. We are about to have amazing photos and data from this intriguing world (just as Dawn got from its previous target, the second-largest asteroid, Vesta). Dawn is also the first spacecraft to orbit two different bodies in the solar system, thanks to its use of ion propulsion, a technology that until recently was mostly the domain of science fiction.

Rayman is both mission director and chief engineer for Dawn (as he was for the Deep Space 1 mission that encountered Comet Borrelly in 2001). He has worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1986, designing instruments for space telescopes, Mars measurements, the search for planets around other stars and laser communications with spacecraft.

In addition to receiving NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal three times and having an asteroid named after him, Rayman has written many popular articles and appeared frequently on television explaining space exploration. He writes the popular Dawn Journal blog to keep the public informed about this exciting mission.

The free lecture series is sponsored by the Foothill College Astronomy Program, NASA Ames Research Center, SETI Institute and Astronomical Society of the Pacific. A number of past Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are now available free on YouTube on the series’ own channel atwww.youtube.com/user/SVAstronomyLectures/.

The site gives instant access to more than 20 past lectures, including Steve Beckwith on the Hubble Telescope’s deepest views, Mike Brown on his discovery of worlds beyond Pluto, Natalie Batalha on the Kepler mission planet discoveries, Chris McKay on what it’s like on Saturn’s moon Titan, Sandra Faber on the origin of galaxies, Alex Filippenko and Roger Blandford on black holes, and Seth Shostak on new approaches t o finding extra-terrestrial civilizations.

Parking lots 1, 7 and 8 provide stair and no-stair access to the theatre. Visitors must purchase a parking permit for $3 from dispensers in student parking lots. Dispensers accept one-dollar bills and quarters; bring exact change. Foothill College is located off I-280 on El Monte Road in Los Altos Hills.

For more information, access www.foothill.edu or call (650) 949-7888.