The newest discoveries and pictures from the Cassini spacecraft exploring Saturn will be presented at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Fiske Planetarium on April 7 and 8.
Josh Colwell, a co-investigator on Cassini's ultraviolet camera and a research associate at CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, will present "Unveiling Saturn" at 7:30 p.m. on both days.
During the show, which is intended for a general audience, Colwell will tour Saturn and its rings and moons as seen by Cassini, highlighting the newest discoveries and images returned from the most distant scientific outpost in the solar system.
The Cassini spacecraft has been observing Saturn for more than a year and has had many close encounters with the ringed planet and its icy moons. Colwell also will discuss the Huygens probe mission to the surface of Saturn's moon Titan completed in January.
The spacecraft is carrying LASP's Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph, a $12 million ultraviolet camera operated by CU-Boulder researchers including Colwell. The Cassini spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in 1997 and entered Saturn's orbit in June 2004.
Admission for "Unveiling Saturn" is $6 for adults, $5 for students and $3.50 for children and seniors. Sommers-Bausch Observatory, adjacent to the planetarium, is open to the public following Friday shows, weather permitting. Admission to the observatory as well as guided viewing through the 16- and 18-inch telescopes is free.
For more information about Fiske Planetarium and other shows and programs it offers, call (303) 492-5002 or visit the Web site at .