"Uranus and Neptune: A History of Exploration and Discovery of the Icy Giants"
by Justin McCollum
The outermost planets of the Solar System tend to be the most challenging for research and observations for all explorers and researchers of space. Uranus and Neptune are the icy giants of our planetary system, alien to the inner gas giants Jupiter and Saturn.
This presentation begins with the origins of the mythology of Uranus and Neptune, progressing to the discovery of both worlds. Changes in the different methodologies of scientific studies and the advancements in the observations of two icy planets will be part of this presentation.
New technologies, including the latest information provide new insights into this rarely explored region of our Solar System. Backyard Astronomy and citizen science projects are playing new roles in providing fascinating facts and rewarding challenges in exploring these planets. Observing or photographing details on these distant planets requires high magnification and is very challenging. Practiced on a regular basis, such observing will help make you a better astronomer.
Our speaker: Justin graduated from Portland State University with an M.S. in Physics. Since 2005, he has been a Physics Laboratory Coordinator and departmental Astronomy instructor. His accomplishments include graduating at the top of his cohort in the postgraduate certification on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning with UT Austin McCombs School of Business in August 2023. Justin has also volunteered at the George Observatory since 2005 and has served in different club officer positions in several Houston area astronomy clubs.
This meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. To attend, you must register for the meeting. You can do so using the link below. You will receive an email with the details of the meeting and a link that will allow you to join in.
Novice meeting Zoom registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/
You only need to register once!
Join us Thursday, November 30th, 2023, at 7:00 pm CDST. See you then!
