Cedar Amateur Astronomers Public Night

  • Details

  • 3/11/23
  • 7:30 p.m. -
  • Free
  • All Ages
  • Categories

  • Hobby

Event Description

Join us for our first in-person event of 2023! University of Iowa Professor Emeritus Steven Spangler will present "Venus: The Earth's Twin." This free event will begin at 7:30 PM. 

There are eight major planets that orbit the Sun, but none of them are very similar to the Earth.  In many ways, Venus is the closest match.  Its orbit is closest to the Earth, and it is nearly the same in regards to size and mass.  It also possesses a thick atmosphere.  However, at this point the similarities end.  The temperature on the surface of Venus is 860 Fahrenheit, a temperature that is too hot for robot spacecraft, let along life.  I will describe the overall characteristics of Venus as well as the probable reasons why it is so different.  I will also talk about recent, intriguing suggestions that Venus might have been much more similar to the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago.  We should learn much more after the arrival of three new spacecraft missions planned for the next decade.  If the skies are clear, we will have the chance to see Venus in the evening sky before the talk and our members will be manning the scopes after the presentation as well.  

This event is free and in=person as well as on Zoom. For more information on this event, or how to become a member, go to our website https://cedar-astronomers.org


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