[oasis-announce] Fwd: Mike Brown to speak on Pluto, Sun. Oct. 28 at Altadena Library

[Craig E. Ward]

This isn't an OASIS event, but some of you might find it interesting.

--- begin forwarded text


Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:58:45 -0700
From: Bob & Laura Eklund <beklund at sprynet.com>
Subject: [oasis] Mike Brown to speak on Pluto,	Sun. Oct. 28 at 
Altadena Library
Sender: oasis-bounces at oasis-nss.org
To: beklund at mtwilson.edu


Mount Wilson Observatory Association (MWOA)

P.O. Box 70076, Pasadena, CA 91117



  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Bob Eklund, (310) 216-5947



  Mike Brown to Speak on "How I Killed Pluto."

At Altadena Library Sunday, October 28, 2007



The Mount Wilson Observatory Association (MWOA) invites the public to 
join them at their monthly lecture/meeting, 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, 
October 28, at the Altadena Public Library.  Caltech's Mike Brown 
will speak on "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming."



For the past seven years, Dr. Brown and his associates have been 
scanning the skies for planets beyond Pluto.  In 2005, after a search 
of about half of the sky and the discovery of dozens of objects 
almost the size of Pluto, they finally found Eris, the first object 
larger than Pluto, and the first that might have been called a new 
planet.  In addition to raising a new avalanche of scientific 
questions, this discovery drives home the need to answer a question 
that astronomers have been unwilling to answer for years: "What is a 
planet?"  Dr. Brown will discuss the story of the discovery and give 
a perspective on why the question of planethood is difficult and why 
the new class of dwarf planets was created to describe all of these 
objects.



Mike Brown is a Professor of Planetary Astronomy at Caltech, where he 
teaches classes ranging from introductory geology to the formation of 
the solar system.  He is a native of Huntsville, Ala., where he grew 
up listening to the tests of the Saturn rockets preparing to go to 
the moon.  He received his undergraduate degree in Physics from 
Princeton University and his Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University 
of California at Berkeley.



This meeting and lecture will be held in the Community Room of the 
Altadena Public Library, 600 E. Mariposa St. in Altadena. 
Refreshments are served at 2:00 p.m. and the program begins at 2:30.



MWOA is a public-membership support group for the Mount Wilson 
Observatory, a major astronomical research facility located in the 
San Gabriel Mountains.  MWOA's goals include improving the public's 
awareness of this observatory's rich history and ongoing scientific 
and educational programs.  For information about MWOA membership, 
call Don Nicholson at (310) 476-4413.



###

--- end forwarded text


-- 
cewcew at mac.com
"There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understand 
binary and those who don't."