Our guest speaker is Dr Suzanne Metlay. The title of her talk is “Geosciences of Dwarf Planets”
Dwarf planets are small worlds with atmospheres and maybe fluids interacting with their rocky/icy surfaces. Let’s look at the geology and meteorology of Ceres and Pluto using the latest data and images from the DAWN and NEW HORIZONS missions. We’ll discuss systems interactions and what this might mean for other dwarf planets in and beyond our solar system.
Suzanne Metlay is full-time faculty in Geoscience Teacher Education at Western Governors University, a fully online non-profit university founded in 1997 by 19 governors of western states, including Colorado. Previously, Suzanne taught astronomy and geology at Front Range Community College in Longmont and Fort Collins, was Operations Director for Secure World Foundation in Superior, and served as Education Programs Manager at CU-Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium.
Suzanne has a BA in History and Science from Harvard University and a PhD in Geology and Planetary Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She was awarded the Antarctica Service Medal from the Department of the Navy and National Science Foundation for fieldwork conducted as a participant in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) in 1991.
The observatory doors will open at 7:00pm and the presentation will start at 7:30pm. Weather permitting after the presentation, visitors will be invited to look through our large telescopes at various celestial objects
Public star nights at LTO are held the third Friday of each month (except July, when we are closed for annual maintenance). No reservations are necessary for these nights. Just come and join us for the talk and some observing afterwards.
If you have any questions, please call the observatory information line at 970-613-7793 or check the LTO web site at: www.starkids.org
