[193] Dec. 2 MTSU Star Party Features Higgins' 'Juno to Jupiter'

For release: Nov. 29, 2011

News and Media Relations contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu

Physics & Astronomy contacts:
Dr. Eric Klumpe, 615-898-2483 or Eric.Klumpe@mtsu.edu
Dr. Charles Higgins, 615-898-5946 or ChuckHiggins@mtsu.edu

Dec. 2 MTSU Star Party features Higgins’ ‘Juno to Jupiter’

MURFREESBORO — Dr. Charles “Chuck” Higgins will discuss “Juno to Jupiter” during the final MTSU First Friday Star Party of the fall semester on Friday, Dec. 2.

The star party will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Wiser-Patten Science Hall Room 102. After the 30- to 45-minute lecture by Higgins and weather permitting, there will be an outdoor telescope observing for participants.

The Juno spacecraft is a NASA New Frontiers mission to the planet Jupiter. Launched Aug. 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Juno is on a five-year journey and expected to arrive around July 4, 2016.

It will travel about 1,740 million miles. Instruments aboard Juno will take thermal radiation measurements from within Jupiter’s atmosphere and collect other data. The mission, expected to end in October 2017, will include the spacecraft completing 33 orbits before being de-orbited and crashing into the planet.

Higgins is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He earned his bachelor’s in 1988 from the University of Alabama at Huntsville and his master’s (’93) and doctorate (’96) degrees from the University of Florida. He has been at MTSU since 2001 and serves as MTSU Astronomy Club adviser.

Higgins has authored and coauthored numerous professional publications and he has participated in many presentations. Along with MTSU Space Grant coordinator Mark Abolins, Higgins’ most recent research grant study has been “Analysis of Jupiter’s Radio Emission” using the Voyager, Galileo and Cassini spacecrafts as part of the Tennessee Space Grant Consortium from 2006 to present.

First Friday Star Parties are open to the general public and MTSU students, faculty and staff. Children are welcome. Free parking is available behind Wiser-Patten beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Star Party Fridays only.

For more information, call Drs. Eric Klumpe at 615-898-2483 or Higgins at 615-898-5946. For general information and a downloadable PDF of the fall 2011 schedule, visit http://bit.ly/MTStarParties11 or call 615-898-2130.

###

Media welcomed.

Celebrating its 100th anniversary and faithful to its roots as a teachers' college, MTSU continues as a top producer of teachers in Tennessee. Pride, Tradition and Excellence are the cornerstones of "Tennessee’s Best"!
-------

For MTSU news and information anytime, visit www.mtsunews.com.