The latest information on the Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn and its moon Titan will be provided at a public talk on Valentine's Day, February 14th, at Dublin City University.
Prof Carl Murray, a member of the Cassini imaging science subsystem team will speak at an event jointly organised by Astronomy Ireland and The Irish Times.
The paired Cassini/Huygens satellites captured headlines around the world when on January 14th Huygens descended successfully onto Titan's surface. Its six onboard instruments captured data and sent pictures back to the Cassini orbiter as Huygens drifted on a parachute and touched down intact.
Prof Murray's talk will tell the story of the mission to date, highlighting the new scientific discoveries made by the two satellites and illustrated with the latest pictures available from the surface of Titan and from the ongoing Cassini mission.
He is a key researcher in the study of the data being sent back by Cassini, yet Prof Murray has agreed to honour a commitment to give a talk in Dublin. He has been a member of the Cassini imaging team since 1990 and so will have much to tell his audience.
Prof Murray was born in Belfast and is professor of mathematics and astronomy at Queen Mary, University of London.
The talk will take place at 8 p.m. on Monday, February 14th in theatre QG13 in the Business School on the DCU campus. Early booking is advised given the limited space available. Tickets cost €5 and tickets for Astronomy Ireland members, students and OAPs cost €3. Tickets may be booked by phoning Astronomy Ireland at (01) 847-0777 or using its web site www.astronomy.ie
Ten free pairs of tickets to the talk are available as a special Irish Times reader promotion. Dial 1550 114706 or in Northern Ireland, 0906 604-0246 to be in with a chance to obtain tickets. Calls cost 95 c per min, mobiles may be more expensive.
Astronomy Ireland is a non-profit society dedicated to spreading interest in science in general and astronomy and space in particular.