CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Chambana Today) — The upcoming Kaler Science Lecture at Parkland’s Staerkel Planetarium will feature a discussion on space weather.
The lecture will take place on December 5 at 7 p.m., with U of I professor Dr. Lara Waldrop presenting a talk about the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory mission, designed to observe the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere, the exosphere.
The exosphere extends beyond the Earth’s surface and hydrogen atoms glow in ultraviolet. This region, known as geocorona, is analogous to the corona, the Sun’s outermost region. This region of Earth’s exosphere was first photographed by a telescope brought to the Moon during the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. That telescope was built by George Carruthers, a U of I alumnus for whom the Carruthers mission was named.
As the principal investigator of the Carruthers mission, Dr. Waldrop and the research team plan to take continuous images of the geocorona to examine its structure and behavior. They hope to learn the mechanisms which produce the geocorona, and how it responds to space weather.
Dr. Waldrop earned her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Space Physics at Boston University. She joined UIUC’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2004.
The lecture is part of the James B. Kaler Science Lecture Series, named for UIUC astronomer Jim Kaler, who spoke at the series for almost three decades.
Kaler Science Lectures are filmed by Parkland College TV. After the talk, the planetarium will show “Season of Light” at 8 p.m. Admission to most planetarium shows is $8 for adults or $7 for children, Parkland students, or seniors.
Tickets for Kaler Lectures cost $2 or are free for the Friends of the Staerkel Planetarium. Tickets may be purchased in person or online.
For a show schedule or information about booking the dome, call 217/351-2568 or visit planetarium.parkland.edu.
