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General Meeting – January 2018
January 5, 2018 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
6:30 pm – Introductory Presentation
Title: Objects of the Quarter
Presenter: Dr. Mary Turner, TAAA’s Chief Observer and Adjunct Professor of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona
In her latest popular sky talk, Mary Turner takes us on a tour of the winter night sky. With the use of astronomical data, images, and mythology, Mary provides an overview of what to expect in the sky during the coming months.
7:30 pm – Main Presentation
Title: The Latest News About Water On Mars
Presenter: Dr. Shane Byrne is an Associate Professor at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at UA. He is a co-Investigator on the HiRISE and CaSSIS cameras at Mars and a Guest Investigator on the Dawn mission at Ceres. Dr. Byrne is also the director of the Space Imagery Center, a NASA Regional Planetary Image Facility that archives planetary spacecraft and telescopic data and conducts many outreach events.
Dr. Byrne will talk about the search for water on Mars. It remains a major unifying theme of Mars exploration because water is required for Martian life as well as for future human exploration. Evidence for liquid water has waxed and waned over the years for both modern and ancient Mars. Dr. Byrne will describe the ups and downs of this quest for Martian water, and how every few years new observations overturn old theories.