FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM – SPECIAL EDITION NEWSLETTER
The purpose of this special edition newsletter is to inform you of a very special guest speaker who is coming to Napier. His name is Professor Tor Hagfors. Sir Ian Axford has called him the father of radar astronomy. Professor Hagfors is an internationally known pioneer in studies of the interaction of electromagnetic waves with ionised plasmas and solid surfaces. He was one of the early directors of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and from 1998 to 1992, was director of the observatory’s managing organization, the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC). After moving to Germany in 1992 to become Director of the Max Planck Institute, he became involved in space missions to study the Martian surface and the internal structure of comets. In recognition of his research achievements, and in celebration of his 68th birthday, the minor planet 1985 VD1 was named "Hagfors" in his honour. Professor Hagfors has also served as director of the Jicamarca Radio Observatory in Peru and has been on the faculty at the University of Trondheim and the University of Oslo, both in Norway. He is now professor emeritus of electrical engineering and astronomy at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., and scientific member emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.
Here is an abstract of his presentation. The Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy (MPAe) has gone through a gradual transition from its original field of research to Solar System Research (MPS). This transition, with help from NZ, has been characterized by participation in a number of space missions both supported by NASA, ESA and IKI, the Russian space agency. The participation has involved development of instrumentation and the data analysis of the results. I describe some of the experiments and selected results, from the Giotto mission taking pictures of the nucleus of comet Halley, to the construction of a stereo camera IMP for the Pathfinder mission to Mars for a detailed view of the surface structure, to studies on SOHO of the solar corona between 1.1 and 30 solar radii with three coronagraphs, LASCO, to instrumentation for the study of the composition and charge state in the corona with SUMER and CELIAS, to Rosetta experiments with a camera and a radio transmission experiment, to search with a radar system on Mars Express for water deep under the surface of Mars, to the successful landing of Huygens on Titan with a complex camera system revealing both surface structure and some properties of the atmosphere. Future plans involve Venus, Mercury and the Galilean satellites. The brief review shows that the MPS plays an important role in the international space science community and will continue to do so in the future.
Professor Hagfors’ presentation will take place at the Planetarium on Sunday, May 15. Drinks and nibbles will be served at 5:00 p.m. with the talk to begin at 5:30 p.m. Entry is by gold coin donation and numbers are strictly limited. Reservations must be made in advance. To book a seat, call or fax the Planetarium or send us an e-mail. The contact details can be found at the top of the page. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to hear one of the worlds most respected radar astronomers.
Finally, thanks to all of you for your support of our recent Open Day. Although the number of visitors was down on previous years, the level of interest and enthusiasm was just as high as ever and the feedback that we received was all very positive.