In-Person at UW PAA A102 (Physics/Astronomy Auditorium) AND hybrid via Zoom Time capsules from the birth of our Solar System more than 4 billion years ago, Trojan asteroids orbit the Sun in two loose groups, with one group leading ahead of Jupiter in its path, the other trailing behind. Clustered around the two Lagrange points equidistant from the Sun and Jupiter, the Trojans are stabilized by the Sun and its largest planet in a gravitational balancing act. These primitive bodies hold ... more

What do you think should be NASA's next destination for exploration of the Solar System: Venus, a metallic asteroid, or a tour of the Trojan asteroids? On September 30th, NASA announced the five finalists for the next Discovery class mission. Van Kane will talk about the missions and what they could tell us about our Solar System.