Spectacular images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope will be featured in two free public lectures on Thursday, June 18 at 7 p.m. in JPL's von Karman Auditorium, and on Friday, June 19 at 7 p.m. in The Forum at Pasadena City College. Seating is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
The lecture, entitled "Hubble Space Telescope: Bringing the Universe into Focus," will include highlights of the past four years of research with the first large optical space telescope. Lecturer Dr. John Trauger, a senior research scientist with JPL's Division of Earth and Space Science, will present colorful and awe-inspiring pictures providing new insights into the workings of our solar system, the life cycle of nebulae and stars in our Milky Way galaxy, and the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time.
Trauger has been the principal investigator for the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera-2 since the project's inception in 1985. The camera was originally conceived as a wide-field photometric camera to include technology advancements and eventually replace the original camera first launched with the telescope in 1990.
In June 1990, after analyzing the first Hubble images, Trauger first proposed to NASA a solution for Hubble's spherical aberration. His solution, which ultimately restored full imaging potential to the space telescope, involved reconfiguring small mirrors within the Wide Field and Planetary Camera-2. Trauger's work earned him NASA's Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1994. In 1997, the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Science presented Trauger with its Masursky Award for meritorious service to planetary science. Trauger is active in the ongoing development of optical and interferometric instrumentation for astronomy.
This lecture is part of the von Karman Lecture Series sponsored monthly by the JPL Media Relations Office. A web site on the lecture series is located at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/lecture. For directions and other information, call the Media Relations Office at (818) 354-5011.
818-354-5011