ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist
As the leader of the Imaging Team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, Carolyn Porco interprets and shares the pictures coming back from this fascinating planet, its rings and its moons.

Why you should listen

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco studies and interprets the photos from NASA space missions like the renowned Voyager mission to the outer solar system in the 1980s and the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. She leads a team of scientists from the US and Europe that has been analyzing the images Cassini has sent back since it left Earth in 1997. At Saturn, they have found new phenomena everywhere they've turned their cameras … in the planet’s atmosphere, within its rings and on the surfaces of its many moons. And they've produced spectacular images and animations of these marvels in the process.

Back in the early-1980s, while still working on her doctorate, Porco was drafted onto the Voyager imaging team to assist in crunching the mountains of data coming back from Voyager’s fly-by of Saturn. Her work on the planet's rings and their relation to its moons cemented her connection with Saturn. After Voyager had flown by Neptune and was nearing conclusion, she worked together with Carl Sagan in planning Voyager’s celebrated Pale Blue Dot picture of Earth.

Her ongoing work at the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPs) has two goals: to process, interpret and archive Cassini’s images for other scientists, and to make sure the images -- in all their breathtaking poetry and mystery and sheer Save-Image-As-Desktop awesomeness -- connect with the general public. She is an advocate for the exploration and understanding of planetary space, and her frequent talks (as well as her "Captain's Log" memos on the CICLOPS website) speak to everyone, scientist and nonscientist alike. Her advocacy extends to Hollywood, where she was the character consultant on the 1997 movie “Contact,” and a consultant on the 2009 Paramount Pictures re-boot of “Star Trek.” In 2012, she was named one the 25 most influential people in space by TIME magazine.

Finally, in a twist on the Pale Blue Dot theme, it was she who conceived the idea to invite the people of the world to smile while Cassini imaged the Earth on July 19, 2013 in an event called “The Day the Earth Smiled.”

For more information: 

Solar System Portrait: Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'

BBC: Saturn snapped as Earth smiled

The Atlantic: The Carl Sagan of Our Time Reprises the 'Pale Blue Dot' Photo of Earth

The Day the Earth Smiled: Image

Library of Congress: Portraits of the Solar System: Talking with Carolyn Porco About Carl Sagan  

More profile about the speaker
Carolyn Porco | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Carolyn Porco: Could a Saturn moon harbor life?

Carolyn Porco: ĉu saturna luno povas gastigi vivon?

Filmed:
1,054,733 views

Carolyn Porco montras novajn ekscitajn malkovrojn el la ĵusaj kontroloj faritaj de la kosmoŝipo Cassini en unu el la saturnaj lunoj, Encelado. La specimenoj kolektitaj el la glaciaj gejseroj de la luno sugestas ke oceano sub ĝia surfaco povus gastigi vivon.
- Planetary scientist
As the leader of the Imaging Team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, Carolyn Porco interprets and shares the pictures coming back from this fascinating planet, its rings and its moons. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:18
Two years ago here at TED
0
0
2000
Antaŭ du jaroj tie ĉi en TED
00:20
I reported that we had discovered
1
2000
2000
mi informis ke ni estis malkovrintaj
00:22
at Saturn, with the Cassini Spacecraft,
2
4000
3000
en Saturno, per la kosmoŝipo Cassini,
00:25
an anomalously warm and geologically active region
3
7000
3000
nekutime varman kaj geologie aktivan regionon
00:28
at the southern tip of the small Saturnine moon
4
10000
3000
en la suda pinto de la malgranda saturna luno
00:31
Enceladus, seen here.
5
13000
2000
Encelado, tie ĉi videbla.
00:33
This region seen here for the first time
6
15000
2000
Tiu ĉi regiono tie ĉi vidata unuafoje
00:35
in the Cassini image taken in 2005. This is the south polar region,
7
17000
5000
en la bildo prenita el Cassini en 2005. Tiu ĉi estas la suda polusa regiono.
00:40
with the famous tiger-stripe fractures crossing the south pole.
8
22000
3000
Kun la tigrostriaj faŭltoj krucante la sudan poluson.
00:43
And seen just recently in late 2008,
9
25000
4000
Kaj vidite ĵus en la fino de 2008,
00:47
here is that region again,
10
29000
2000
tie ĉi estas la regiono denove,
00:49
now half in darkness because the southern hemisphere
11
31000
3000
nun duone en mallumo ĉar la suda hemisfero
00:52
is experiencing the onset of August
12
34000
3000
spertas la komencon de aŭgusto
00:55
and eventually winter.
13
37000
2000
kaj fine de vintro.
00:57
And I also reported that we'd made this mind-blowing discovery --
14
39000
3000
Kaj ni ankaŭ raportis ke ni faris tiun skuigan malkovron –
01:00
this once-in-a-lifetime discovery
15
42000
2000
tiun ĉi unikan malkovron
01:02
of towering jets
16
44000
2000
de suprenĵetitaj ŝprucoj
01:04
erupting from those fractures at the south pole,
17
46000
3000
eruptantaj de tiuj faŭltoj en la suda poluso,
01:07
consisting of tiny water ice crystals
18
49000
2000
konsistantajn el etaj akvoglaciaj kristaloj
01:09
accompanied by water vapor
19
51000
3000
akompanataj de akvovaporo
01:12
and simple organic compounds like carbon dioxide and methane.
20
54000
4000
kaj simplaj organikaj kunmetaĵoj kiel karbodioksido kaj metano.
01:16
And at that time two years ago
21
58000
2000
Kaj en tiu momento antaŭ du jaroj
01:18
I mentioned that we were speculating
22
60000
2000
mi menciis ke ni hipotezas
01:20
that these jets might in fact be geysers,
23
62000
2000
ĉu tiuj ŝprucoj estas fakte gejseroj,
01:22
and erupting from pockets
24
64000
2000
eruptante el poŝoj
01:24
or chambers of liquid water underneath the surface,
25
66000
2000
aŭ kavoj de likvida akvo sub la surfaco.
01:26
but we weren't really sure.
26
68000
2000
Sed ni ne estis tute certaj.
01:28
However, the implications of those results --
27
70000
3000
Tamen, la konsekvencoj de tiuj rezultoj
01:31
of a possible environment within this moon
28
73000
3000
pri ebla medio ene de tiu luno
01:34
that could support prebiotic chemistry,
29
76000
2000
kiu povus subteni prebiotan ĥemion,
01:36
and perhaps life itself --
30
78000
3000
kaj eble eĉ vivon mem,
01:39
were so exciting that, in the intervening two years,
31
81000
2000
estis tiel ekscitaj ke en la pasintaj du jaroj
01:41
we have focused more on Enceladus.
32
83000
2000
ni pli fokusiĝis en Encelado.
01:43
We've flown the Cassini Spacecraft
33
85000
3000
Ni nun flugigis la kosmoŝipon Cassini
01:46
by this moon now several times,
34
88000
2000
ĉirkaŭ tiu luno plurajn fojojn.
01:48
flying closer and deeper into these jets,
35
90000
3000
Flugante pli proksime kaj pli profunde en tiujn ŝprucojn,
01:51
into the denser regions of these jets,
36
93000
2000
en la plej densajn partojn de tiuj ŝprucoj,
01:53
so that now we have come away with some
37
95000
2000
tiel ke nun ni alvenis al kelkaj
01:55
very precise compositional measurements.
38
97000
2000
tre precizaj mezuroj de la konsisto.
01:57
And we have found
39
99000
2000
Kaj ni trovis
01:59
that the organic compounds coming from this moon
40
101000
3000
ke la organikaj komponaĵoj venantaj el tiu ĉi luno
02:02
are in fact more complex than we previously reported.
41
104000
3000
estas fakte pli komplikaj ol tio kion ni antaŭe raportis.
02:05
While they're not amino acids,
42
107000
2000
Eĉ se ili ne estas aminacidoj,
02:07
we're now finding things like
43
109000
2000
ni nun trovas substancojn kiel
02:09
propane and benzene,
44
111000
2000
propano kaj benzeno,
02:11
hydrogen cyanide, and formaldehyde.
45
113000
2000
hidrogena cianido, kaj formaldehido.
02:13
And the tiny water crystals here
46
115000
3000
Kaj la etaj akvokristaloj tie ĉi
02:16
now look for all the world
47
118000
2000
tute aspektas
02:18
like they are frozen droplets of salty water,
48
120000
3000
kvazaŭ ili estas glaciigitaj gutetoj de sala akvo.
02:21
which is a discovery that suggests
49
123000
2000
Kio estas malkovro sugestanta
02:23
that not only do the jets come from
50
125000
2000
ne nur ke la ŝprucoj venas el
02:25
pockets of liquid water,
51
127000
2000
poŝoj de likva akvo,
02:27
but that that liquid water is in contact with rock.
52
129000
3000
sed ke tiu likva akvo estas en kontakto kun roko.
02:30
And that is a circumstance
53
132000
2000
Kaj tiu estas cirkonstanco
02:32
that could supply the chemical energy
54
134000
2000
kiu povus alporti la ĥemian energion
02:34
and the chemical compounds needed to sustain life.
55
136000
3000
kaj la ĥemiajn komponaĵojn necesajn por subteni vivon.
02:37
So we are very encouraged by these results.
56
139000
3000
Ni do estas tre kuraĝigitaj pro tiuj ĉi rezultoj.
02:40
And we are much more confident now than we were two years ago
57
142000
3000
Kaj ni estas multe pli memfidaj nun ol ni estis antaŭ du jaroj
02:43
that we might indeed
58
145000
2000
ke ni ja povus
02:45
have on this moon, under the south pole,
59
147000
3000
havi en tiu ĉi luno, sub la suda poluso,
02:48
an environment or a zone that is hospitable to living organisms.
60
150000
4000
medion aŭ areon gastaman por vivaj estaĵoj.
02:52
Whether or not there are living organisms there, of course,
61
154000
3000
Ĉu estas tie vivaj estaĵoj aŭ ne,
02:55
is an entirely different matter.
62
157000
2000
tio estas kompreneble tute alia afero.
02:57
And that will have to await the arrival,
63
159000
2000
Kaj tio devas atendi la alvenon
02:59
back at Enceladus,
64
161000
3000
reen al Encelado
03:02
of the spacecrafts, hopefully some time in the near future,
65
164000
3000
de kosmoŝipoj, espereble iam en proksima estonto,
03:05
specifically equipped to address that particular question.
66
167000
4000
specife ekipitaj por celi tiun specifan aferon.
03:09
But in the meantime I invite you to imagine the day
67
171000
3000
Sed dume mi invitas vin imagi la tagon
03:12
when we might journey to the Saturnine system,
68
174000
3000
kiam ni povus ekskursi al la saturna sistemo,
03:15
and visit the Enceladus interplanetary geyser park,
69
177000
4000
kaj viziti la enceladan interplanedan gejserparkon,
03:19
just because we can.
70
181000
2000
simple ĉar ni povas.
03:21
Thank you.
71
183000
2000
Dankon.
03:23
(Applause)
72
185000
1000
(Aplaŭdado)
Translated by Toño del Barrio
Reviewed by James Piton

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist
As the leader of the Imaging Team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, Carolyn Porco interprets and shares the pictures coming back from this fascinating planet, its rings and its moons.

Why you should listen

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco studies and interprets the photos from NASA space missions like the renowned Voyager mission to the outer solar system in the 1980s and the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. She leads a team of scientists from the US and Europe that has been analyzing the images Cassini has sent back since it left Earth in 1997. At Saturn, they have found new phenomena everywhere they've turned their cameras … in the planet’s atmosphere, within its rings and on the surfaces of its many moons. And they've produced spectacular images and animations of these marvels in the process.

Back in the early-1980s, while still working on her doctorate, Porco was drafted onto the Voyager imaging team to assist in crunching the mountains of data coming back from Voyager’s fly-by of Saturn. Her work on the planet's rings and their relation to its moons cemented her connection with Saturn. After Voyager had flown by Neptune and was nearing conclusion, she worked together with Carl Sagan in planning Voyager’s celebrated Pale Blue Dot picture of Earth.

Her ongoing work at the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPs) has two goals: to process, interpret and archive Cassini’s images for other scientists, and to make sure the images -- in all their breathtaking poetry and mystery and sheer Save-Image-As-Desktop awesomeness -- connect with the general public. She is an advocate for the exploration and understanding of planetary space, and her frequent talks (as well as her "Captain's Log" memos on the CICLOPS website) speak to everyone, scientist and nonscientist alike. Her advocacy extends to Hollywood, where she was the character consultant on the 1997 movie “Contact,” and a consultant on the 2009 Paramount Pictures re-boot of “Star Trek.” In 2012, she was named one the 25 most influential people in space by TIME magazine.

Finally, in a twist on the Pale Blue Dot theme, it was she who conceived the idea to invite the people of the world to smile while Cassini imaged the Earth on July 19, 2013 in an event called “The Day the Earth Smiled.”

For more information: 

Solar System Portrait: Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'

BBC: Saturn snapped as Earth smiled

The Atlantic: The Carl Sagan of Our Time Reprises the 'Pale Blue Dot' Photo of Earth

The Day the Earth Smiled: Image

Library of Congress: Portraits of the Solar System: Talking with Carolyn Porco About Carl Sagan  

More profile about the speaker
Carolyn Porco | Speaker | TED.com
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM