Geosciences of Dwarf Planets – Pluto Update

is the subject of this month’s Estes Valley Astronomical Society (EVAS) meeting. EVAS in conjunction with The Estes Park Memorial Observatory is offering a free public open house/star night on Saturday, August 22, 2015. The goal of EVAS is to promote amateur astronomy and education in the Estes valley
Our special guest speaker this month is Dr. Suzanne Metlay.

Dwarf planets are small worlds with atmospheres and maybe fluids interacting with their rocky/icy surfaces. Let’s look at the geology and meteorology of Ceres and Pluto using the latest data and images from the DAWN and NEW HORIZONS missions. We’ll discuss systems interactions and what this might mean for other dwarf planets in and beyond our solar system.

Suzanne Metlay is full-time faculty in Geoscience Teacher Education at Western Governors University, a fully online non-profit university founded in 1997 by 19 governors of western states, including Colorado. Previously, Suzanne taught astronomy and geology at Front Range Community College in Longmont and Fort Collins, was Operations Director for Secure World Foundation in Superior, and served as Education Programs Manager at CU- Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium.

Suzanne has a BA in History and Science from Harvard University and a PhD in Geology and Planetary Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She was awarded the Antarctica Service Medal from the Department of the Navy and National Science Foundation for fieldwork conducted as a participant in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) in 1991.

The observatory is just north of the high school at 1600 Manford Ave. Park in the teacher’s parking lot between the high school and the observatory. The doors will open at 7:00 pm and the meeting will start at 7:30 pm. The presentation, including a question and answer period, lasts about an hour. After the presentation, weather permitting, we will look through our new 16 inch dome telescope at various celestial objects.