The University of Colorado at Boulder's Fiske Planetarium will host a free public event Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 2 p.m. to unveil a new image of the Orion Nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, and discuss the upcoming mission to Pluto.
The event will include CU-Boulder professors John Bally and Fran Bagenal and planetarium astronomers. Bally is with the CU Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy and has used the Hubble Space Telescope to make observations of the Orion Nebula and other regions where stars are forming.
Bagenal, a CU-Boulder astronomer and professor, will talk about the expected Jan. 17 launch of the NASA New Horizons spacecraft headed for Pluto. She is a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission.
The astronomers will discuss the new image as well as answer questions about the Hubble Space Telescope and the Pluto mission.
"Fiske Planetarium was chosen as one of the sites to host the unveiling because of our excellent ongoing working relationship with the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates the Hubble Space Telescope," said Doug Duncan, director of CU-Boulder's Fiske Planetarium and Sommers-Bausch Observatory. Duncan was a staff astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute several years ago and was responsible for one of Hubble's original instruments.
The image is a large mosaic made by combining many separate Hubble images, and is one of the most detailed and spectacular images ever made by the Hubble Telescope, according to Duncan.
Orion Nebula is an immense cloud of gas and dust and is roughly 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Orion. It is one of the nearest star-forming regions to Earth and can be seen with the naked eye. Over the years, astronomers have taken spectacular images of Orion Nebula, and this one is quite stunning, Duncan said.
Also in January, Bagenal will present a live show at the planetarium titled "New Horizons Mission to Pluto," on Thursday, Jan. 12, and Friday, Jan. 13, at 7:30 p.m. During the show she will discuss what scientists can learn from Pluto about the formation of the solar system and what the New Horizons spacecraft might see when it gets to Pluto. The probe is expected to approach Pluto as early as summer 2015.
Admission to the "New Horizons Mission to Pluto" show is $6 for adults, $5 for students and $3.50 for seniors and children.
For more information about Fiske Planetarium and other shows and programs it offers call (303) 492-5002 or visit