Silicon Valley Lecture Series in person: "Science at the Edge of the Solar System: Uncovering the Secrets of the Pluto System and Arrokoth" with Dr. Oliver White (SETI Institute)
The Silicon Valley Lecture Series is back in person and talks will be available on the YouTube channel post event for viewing at your convenience.
On Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at 7 pm (PST), Dr. Oliver White (SETI Institute) will give a free, illustrated, non-technical lecture entitled:
"Science at the Edge of the Solar System: Uncovering the Secrets of the Pluto System and Arrokoth"
in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos (see directions below)
The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 25th year.
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Ten years ago the New Horizons spacecraft flew by the Pluto system and revealed an unexpectedly diverse range of landscapes on the dwarf planet and its largest moon Charon, implying complex geological histories for these distant worlds. Dr. White will lead a tour of their often bizarre terrains, some of which are still evolving, and will explain what processes scientists think molded them into their present appearances. After a brief stop at Pluto's four small moons, Dr. White will then extend the tour 2 billion km farther out into space to cover Arrokoth, the tiny planetesimal that New Horizons flew past three and a half years after visiting Pluto. It is the most primitive object in the Solar System yet visited by a spacecraft.
Dr. Oliver White is a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute. His research focuses on unraveling the geological histories of the planets and moons in our Solar System and learning how their surfaces have evolved. A member of the New Horizons mission team, he is particularly interested in the icy outer Solar System worlds, and has produced a geological map of Pluto to be published by the US Geological Survey. He is currently creating a similar map of Saturn's moon Tethys.
This lecture is in person at the Smithwick Theater! Link to directions below.
This presentation will also be available on the SVLS YouTube site. Link below.
The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* Foothill College Science, Tech, Engineering & Math Division
* SETI Institute
* Astronomical Society of the Pacific
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Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos, California
For directions and parking information as well as a campus map to find the Smithwick theater, see ilnks below.
NOTE: Parking lot 1 is closest, with access to the theater by stairs. Parking lot 5 provides access from the same elevation as the theater.
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