Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art shows 'Spectacular Saturn ~ Images from Cassini-Huygens Mission' |
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| Saturday, 20 September 2008 21:50 |
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It also includes a few images taken by Huygens, a companion lander that parachuted through the dense atmosphere to the surface of Saturn's intriguing moon, Titan. The stunningly beautiful images were chosen to emphasize the dynamic nature of the system and the interactions of moons and rings, as well as to explore Titan and Enceladus, two satellites with environments that might be hospitable to life. Cassini was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on October 15, 1997. Rather than flying directly to Saturn, it first looped twice around the Sun, taking advantage of two gravity-assists from Venus and one from Earth to catapult it to the outer solar system, where it got another assist from Jupiter. After a nearly seven-year trip, Cassini reached Saturn in 2004. Cassini released the Huygens probe, which touched down on Titan's surface in 2005--the first spacecraft ever to land on a moon other than our own. A spacecraft model will also be on view. The scale model is one-fourth the size of the actual spacecraft, which is 6.7 meters (22 feet) high and 4 meters (13 feet) wide--about the size of a truck.. There will also be a special display of historical books about Saturn from Cornell's Carl A. Kroch Library Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. A façade projection of images from Saturn will be seen on the east side of the Museum from sunset until 11:00 p.m. between October 2 to 26.
The permanent collection consists of more than 30,000 works of art. Aside from the outstanding Asian collection, its greatest strength is in European and American prints, drawings, and photographs, presenting the history of graphic art from the fifteenth century to the present, American painting and sculpture, European art from ancient Greece to the present, African sculpture and textiles, and pre-Columbian sculpture and ceramics are also well represented. We are in the process of digitizing the entire collection to make it available online for study and research. Visit The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at : www.museum.cornell.edu/ Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
The Johnson Museum has one of the finest collections of art in New York State and is recognized as one of the most important university museums in the country. Metered parking is available adjacent to the building, which is located on the corner of Central and University Avenues. 
