Join Professor Imke de Pater as she takes us on a journey through our Solar System.
Our Solar System consists of a diverse and dynamic collection of bodies, ranging in size from tiny dust grains to giant planets. We do not know if our Solar System is unique among planetary systems, but it is the only one where many bodies have become familiar to us as individual worlds and, as such, may serve as templates to study exoplanets.
In this talk we will explore the zoology of our Solar System, from giant planets down to tiny asteroids and comets - key to piecing together the story of the formation of our planets and their subsequent evolution. Although we will tour the entire Solar System, emphasis will be placed on images and recent results obtained by Professor de Pater's group using a variety of telescopes and spacecraft (e.g., JWST, Juno, ALMA, VLA, Keck).
We hope you can join us!
| Date: | Wednesday 23 September 2026 |
| Time: | 5:45 pm for 6-7:15 pm |
| Venue: | Susan Wakil Health Building, Lecture Theatre 321, Western Ave, Camperdown, The University of Sydney |
| Registration: | Free, registration essential |
Imke de Pater is a Professor Emerita in the Departments of Astronomy and of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California at Berkeley. She started her career observing and modelling Jupiter's synchrotron radiation, followed by detailed investigations of this and the other giant planets' thermal radio emissions, using data from the Atacama Large (sub)Millimeter Array (ALMA) and the Very Large Array (VLA). In 1994 she led a worldwide campaign observing the impact of comet D/Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter.
Over the past 25 years, she has also exploited Adaptive Optics techniques with, for example, Keck and the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) to obtain high angular resolution data of volcanic activity on Io, weather on Titan, planetary rings, and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. Most recently she has used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe these same bodies.
Imke has written two textbooks on Planetary Science together with Jack Lissauer (Cambridge University Press). She served as Chair of the Astronomy Department in 2010-2015.
She has received a number of awards for her research, including the AAS (American Astronomical Society) Chambliss Award for Writing (the textbook Planetary Sciences with Jack Lissauer) in 2007; the URSI John Howard Dellinger Gold Medal; two NASA Group Achievement Awards; the Oort Professorship in Leiden (NL); and a Faculty Mentoring Award. She is a Fellow of the AGU, AAS and URSI. She received the Hunstead Distinguished Visitor at the University of Sydney, 2026.
Just a few months ago a Main Belt Asteroid was named after her: (20389) Imkedepater.
Main image: James Webb Space Telecope 2022-07-27 Jupiter
