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 Oct. 27-28.
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 "Cassini Update" 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. The newest discoveries and images returned from the most distant scientific outpost in the solar system will be highlighted.
The Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn for more than a year and has had many close encounters with the ringed planet and its icy moons. The discovery of a plume of water from the mysterious moon Enceladus and the latest pictures of the rings will be highlighted. Colwell also will discuss the Huygens probe mission to the surface of Saturn's largest 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 "Cassini Update" is $6 for adults, $5 for students and $3.50 for children and seniors. Sommers-Bausch, adjacent to the planetarium, is open to the public following Friday shows, weather permitting. Admission to the observatory 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 .