Io Volcanism Discovery Remembered Options

[lindamorabito]

It is nearly a year since my last post! It is very good to be back, and I have linked here from my website ever since.

At the last meeting of the Orange County Astronomers, two members there asked to begin working with and viewing data from any missions allowing public access to their imaging data. I felt that this was the place to come for an overview of what might be available to these astronomy enthusiasts!

I was speaking at the OCA about the release of my book. "Parallel Universes, A Memoir from the Edges of Space and Time" by Linda Morabito Meyer is now available on Kindle. You can read about the book on Amazon.com by searching on Linda Morabito. Amazon offers any future updates to the book at no cost for those who do acquire it. You can check out Linda Morabito's Space Place on Facebook for more details.

I am enjoying the telling of two remarkable stories in the life of one astronomer! My very best wishes to all, as I recall how warmly I was welcomed here! Hope to read some suggestions as to where imaging data is available for the public to view and to seek new finds.

Happy New Year to everyone here! Linda

[Phil Stooke]

Hi Linda - I still remember how amazed I was by your discovery when it was first announced!

The best place to go for answers to your question is the Planetary Society website, where Emily Lakdawalla has set up an excellent set of resources:

http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/amateur/

There you can find information on what is available, how to get it and how to work with it. Nobody does this better than Emily.

There is also a section of UMSF on this topic, http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showforum=57

Please encourage your colleagues to post their results here.

Phil

[eoincampbell]

Linda, Belated congratulations on your discovery, it's amazing to think of the excitement and significance of what you found...,

[lindamorabito]

Phil, thank you! These two individuals will be extremely happy to receive the links! They are anxious to get to work! Eoincampbell, thank you as well. That is the perspective that I always share with my college students; the significance of what was seen that has transformed our ideas of worlds that are very much alive and may provide future discoveries of life on other worlds. Very best to you both and everyone on UMSF!

[cbcnasa]

Hi, very belated congratulations on your discovery.

[nprev]

(I just wanted to echo "Holy cow, it's Linda Morabito!!!" yet again...your discovery is legendary to us!;))

[scalbers]

Yes - greetings Linda. Thanks for posting this thread. I can say you've been a heroine of mine - learning about your discovery while watching the Cosmos series.

Carl Sagan had helped spearhead the Viking Intern program that I participated in. Too bad I wasn't at JPL though for the Voyager days to have met you back then.

Steve

[tasp]

Maybe lightning would strike twice for us?

Would the Kepler folks let Linda look over some of their data?

[lindamorabito]

Stopping by here always makes me feel so welcome! You guys are fantastic! Lightening did strike twice in a way, a group of my students at The Planetary Society commanded the MGS MOC to a specific area - mid-latitude on Mars. There the students discovered dark boulders on white sandy terrain. No planetary scientist could explain how they got there, in the location and configuration that they are in. I remember one of the young student's excitement at coming to the U.S. and doing this work and indicating he felt a discovery might result. I tried to temper his enthusiasm just slightly by explaining the rarity of finds, and yet he was the one who adjusted the pointing based on context pictures he was shown at Malin Space Science Systems, and hence the find was made.

Kepler is a revolution. What a time in Space Exploration!

Thank you all for your kind comments here!

[lindamorabito]

Yes - greetings Linda. Thanks for posting this thread. I can say you've been a heroine of mine - learning about your discovery while watching the Cosmos series.

Carl Sagan had helped spearhead the Viking Intern program that I participated in. Too bad I wasn't at JPL though for the Voyager days to have met you back then.

Steve

Steve,

When were you there? And in what area? I worked on Viking as well.

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

For anyone in the UK, BBC's "The Planets" its on tonight at 11.20 on BBC2. I think this episode features a bit about the discovery of Io's volcanoes and an interview with Linda.

[DaveRM]

Here is Linda Morabito's presentation at the Orange County Astronomers monthly meeting - January 2011.
"One Astronomer's Journey Through Space and Time"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxAQRLV_Tg0

I was 15 in 1966 and a BIG Star Trek fan.

Dave

[belleraphon1]

Greetings Indeed, Linda!

Voyager 1 at Jupiter was such a paradigmn changer. What a revelation it was to see that image of you and Io with the bright volcanic plumes.

Remember avidly awaiting the pulications from Science News and Aviation Week back in those ancient pre-WWW days.

Glad you found UMSF.

Welcome aboard!

Craig

[lindamorabito]

Sunspot, Dave, Craig, Thanks so much! Someone from the UK messaged me on FB and was telling me they saw me on TV. Thanks for letting me know what they saw! Yes, those were the days and a very special time. I think what has taken place since then feels like an exponential growth of new insight from the amount of spacecraft data coming in; viewing so many parts of our particular perspective on the universe from Earth in such high resolution. Those who love this exploration are really connecting via WWW's incredible places like UMSF! Those were the days, but these days so many mysteries are giving way. Unprecedented time then, but now too.

[Stu]

For all the forum's young whippersnapper members who weren't around in those heady Voyager days, this is a rather iconic picture of Linda... hope you don't mind me putting this famous pic up on here, I'm sure this will bring back a lot of memories for the members who were there when the discovery was made...