3000+ people! I believe it. They crowded into the panel discussion room, overflowed into the overflow room, moved in and out of the two rooms and finally flowed back out the door again. Kind of like looking at some new pulsating mutant bacterial colony...
Good thing that Leonard and others had their scopes set up, including an orange tube C-8! I'm glad someone appreciates antique instruments... :-)
The panel really wanted to talk at a more professional level, so younger children were bored inside. Lines were 10-20 people deep at the scopes, though, and kept the kids happy - and outside. Ben and Rebecca stayed for the talk, though - they're used to them. :-)
A few items from the panel discussion - some great new photos of the rings I hadn't seen before with speculation we may be looking at ice braids miles long and not necesarily separately revolving snowballs kind of all moving together. Also some finer photos of the density patterns and distribution - and no spokes (perhaps an aliasing artifact of earlier imaging from Voyager 2, or are they just not appearing right now?). The spoke pattern may actually be a finer network of rings and the compression waves more like spirals rippling through.
More analysis of Iapetus and it's spattering - seems very similar in composition to Phoebe (Kuiper-belt derived). So more mysteries.
And for the sweetener - new photos ("hot off the presses") of Tethys and the great crater of Odysseus.
Lynne.
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: sf-bay-tac-bounces@seds.org [mailto:sf-bay-tac-bounces@seds.org]On
> Behalf Of Leonard Tramiel
> Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2005 8:13 PM
> To: The Astronomy Connection
> Subject: [TAC] OR: Nasa Exploration Center
>
>
> While several others were cultivating Gate Mojo for Dino at
> Pacheco I was at
> an different Astronomy Day event. This one was at the NASA Exploration
> Center at the Ames Research Center in Mountain View. There were about 10
> scopes but I never got a good count. We set up in the parking lot
> in front
> of the Public Affairs/Gift Shop building across the parking lot from the
> Exploration Center.
>
> The PAS officially joined forces with Ames to provide a series of
> lectures
> on Saturn and Cassini with viewing following the lectures.
>
> The targets of the evening, in addition to Saturn were the Moon
> and Jupiter.
> The Moon was at a very opportune phase since the terminator was near the
> Apollo 15 landing site. In the Exploration Center there is Moon Rock from
> that mission. Seeing was OK with moments of good to very good.
> The sky was
> partly clear with bands of high cloud that varied from barely
> there to thick
> enough that I lost Saturn to the naked eye.
>
> There was, however, one aspect of the event that set it apart
> from most star
> parties. The NASA PR people there did a rough head count. 3000 visitors.
> There was someone, ranging from babes in their parents arms to NASA
> researchers, looking through my C8 (and every other scope there)
> without a
> break from 8 till a bit after 10.
>
> -Leonard
>
>
Received on Mon Apr 18 10:40:28 2005