Southeast Allegheny News

Monroeville Public Library recently issued the following announcement.

Exploring the Enigmatic Ice Giants with Dr. Heidi Hammel

Tue Aug 31st 7:00pm - 8:30pm (EDT)

MonroevilleVirtual

Online Event Location:  Click here to join on Zoom! 

During the late 1980s, detailed images taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft revolutionized our understanding of the local ice giants — Uranus and Neptune. However, Voyager 2 captured only brief snapshots of these complex and dynamic systems. In the decades since, our knowledge of these giant planets has undergone striking transformations. We have also learned that many exoplanets (planets around other stars) fall into the “ice giant” class. In this talk, Dr. Heidi B. Hammel will bring you up to date on Uranus and Neptune, discussing her results from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Keck 10-m telescope, and many other observatories. Dr. Hammel will also review the plans for ice giant system exploration with NASA’s newest telescope — the James Webb Space Telescope — and describe plans for future missions to these distant worlds. Afterwards, she will answer your questions about these planets and how we study them.

Dr. Heidi B. Hammel received her undergraduate degree from MIT and her Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii. She is currently the Vice President for Science at AURA, a consortium that operates large astronomical observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope, Gemini Observatory, and many more. Dr. Hammel primarily studies outer planets; she served on the imaging team for the Voyager 2 Neptune encounter, and has studied Uranus and Neptune extensively with Hubble, Keck, and other facilities. She is an Interdisciplinary Scientist for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and plans to use her guaranteed observing time to study a diverse array of Solar System targets including the outer planets. She has been recognized for both her science and her work in public outreach, including the Sagan Medal and the San Francisco Exploratorium's Public Understanding of Science Award. Last year she received the American Astronomical Society’s Masursky Award for outstanding service to planetary science and exploration. Asteroid "1981 EC20" was renamed 3530 Hammel in her honor.

Original source can be found here.