Media

Renowned Astronomer to speak at HKU on the new Solar System without Pluto

09 Dec 2006

 

Who kicked Pluto out of the list of planets? What is behind the public fascination with Pluto as a planet? The Faculty of Science of The University of Hong Kong is proud to have invited Professor David Jewitt, the man literally responsible for Pluto's official demotion, to deliver a lecture at the Faculty of Science' Distinguished Lecture Series.

In the lecture, Professor Jewitt will share his story on the significant discovery of the first Kuiper Belt Object in 1992 with Jane Luu, which had led to the controversy over Pluto's status as a planet. He will also elaborate why astronomers no longer regard Pluto as a planet.

Media representatives are cordially invited to attend the lecture. The details are:

Topic: Distinguished Lecture Series: The New Solar System
Date: December 11, 2006 (Monday)
Time:
5.30pm (Refreshment)
6.00pm (Lecture)
Venue: Wang Gungwu Lecture Hall, Graduate House, HKU
Speaker: Professor David Jewitt, University of Hawaii
Medium: English

Abstract of the talk and more information about the speaker can be found at http://www.hku.hk/science/newsolarsystem.

For public enquiries, please contact Ms B Yeung of the Faculty of Science at 2241 5286. For media enquiries and interview arrangement, please contact Ms Cherry Cheung of the External Relations Office at 2859 2606.