KELSEYVILLE >> Lake County’s window to the universe, Taylor Observatory, presents “Rosetta — Landing on a Comet — Origin of Life on Earth.” The presentation and view takes place on Saturday, April. 25.
The abundant supply of water on earth is a rich environment for the existence of life. The origin of this water remains a mystery. In November of 2014 the space probe Rosetta launched its landing craft Philae toward comet 67P/Churyumov—Gerasimenko. Several of the 21 science instruments aboard Philae were designed to enrich our understanding of how life originated on Earth — for example the “COSAC” package would identify specific chemical compounds on the comet. To date, the most interesting information involves new detail about the comet’s abundant water. But this new information has muddled the long-held belief that comets may have been the source of earth’s water.
In the talk Bill Haddon, President of Friends of Taylor and a Ph.D research chemist, will outline the approaches to investigating origin of life questions, with emphasis on data from comets and meteors plus an interpretation this latest information from Rosetta and Philae.
The rendezvous of the Rosetta probe with comet 67P/Churyumov—Gerasimenko at a 170 million mile distance from Earth is a stunning technological feat, in some respects rivaling the complexity of our country’s Apollo mission to the moon in the 1960s. The European Space Agency is in charge of the Rosetta mission, with extensive collaboration with NASA and other agencies. Experiments at the comet will continue as the comet reaches it’s perihelion on August 10. During the summer we’ll hope to view the comet through the Taylor’s 16-inch telescope.
On April 25 visitors to the Taylor will also be able to view the Taylor’s stunning new full-dome planetarium show Firefall, with showings at 7:15 and 9 p.m. Firefall describes the history of impacts of Near Earth Objects throughout the history of planet Earth, including the February 2013 impact which caused major damage and injury in the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, which caused extensive property damage and injury to almost 1,500 spectators of this stunning event.
The lecture starts at 8 p.m. Admission for the talk, a planetarium show and night sky viewing through the Taylor’s telescopes is $5 adults, $3 12 and under. The location is 5725 Oak Hills Lane in Kelseyville. For further information visitwww.taylorobservatory.org or call 262-4121 or 415 209-3084.
