The Top Tourist Sights of the Solar System
May 07, 2021
Andrew Fraknoi
The Top Tourist Sights of the Solar System

Where Jeff Bezos’ Great Grand-Daughter Will Go for Her Honeymoon: The Top Tourist Sights of the Solar System

About the picture

Saturn casting shadow on the rings

About the topic

We will explore the most intriguing future “tourist destinations” among the planets and moons in our cosmic neighborhood. Our stops will include the towering Mount Olympus volcano on Mars (three times the height of Mount Everest), the awesome Verona Cliffs on the moon Miranda (which are the tallest “lover’s leap” in the solar system), and the recently discovered salt-water steam geysers on Saturn’s intriguing moon Enceladus (nicknamed “Cold Faithful.”). The talk is illustrated with spectacular color images from the American and European space probes that explore the planets.

About the Speaker

Andrew Fraknoi retired in 2017 as the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, and now teaches non-credit astronomy courses for older adults at The Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco and the OLLI program at SF State. Fraknoi has appeared regularly on local and national radio, explaining astronomical developments in everyday language, and was the California Professor of the Year in 2007. He is the lead author of a free college astronomy textbook (Astronomy from OpenStax) and a children's book, When the Sun Goes Dark. He also writes science fiction and has had three stories published in the last few years. The International Astronomical Union has named Asteroid 4859 Asteroid Fraknoi to honor his contributions to the public understanding of science.

See: http://fraknoi.com for more information.