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
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Antaŭ du jaroj tie ĉi en TED
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I reported that we had discovered
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mi informis ke ni estis malkovrintaj
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at Saturn, with the Cassini Spacecraft,
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en Saturno, per la kosmoŝipo Cassini,
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an anomalously warm and geologically active region
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nekutime varman kaj geologie aktivan regionon
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at the southern tip of the small Saturnine moon
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en la suda pinto de la malgranda saturna luno
00:31
Enceladus, seen here.
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Encelado, tie ĉi videbla.
00:33
This region seen here for the first time
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Tiu ĉi regiono tie ĉi vidata unuafoje
00:35
in the Cassini image taken in 2005. This is the south polar region,
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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.
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Kun la tigrostriaj faŭltoj krucante la sudan poluson.
00:43
And seen just recently in late 2008,
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Kaj vidite ĵus en la fino de 2008,
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here is that region again,
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tie ĉi estas la regiono denove,
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now half in darkness because the southern hemisphere
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nun duone en mallumo ĉar la suda hemisfero
00:52
is experiencing the onset of August
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spertas la komencon de aŭgusto
00:55
and eventually winter.
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kaj fine de vintro.
00:57
And I also reported that we'd made this mind-blowing discovery --
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Kaj ni ankaŭ raportis ke ni faris tiun skuigan malkovron –
01:00
this once-in-a-lifetime discovery
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tiun ĉi unikan malkovron
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of towering jets
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de suprenĵetitaj ŝprucoj
01:04
erupting from those fractures at the south pole,
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eruptantaj de tiuj faŭltoj en la suda poluso,
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consisting of tiny water ice crystals
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konsistantajn el etaj akvoglaciaj kristaloj
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accompanied by water vapor
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akompanataj de akvovaporo
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and simple organic compounds like carbon dioxide and methane.
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kaj simplaj organikaj kunmetaĵoj kiel karbodioksido kaj metano.
01:16
And at that time two years ago
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Kaj en tiu momento antaŭ du jaroj
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I mentioned that we were speculating
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mi menciis ke ni hipotezas
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that these jets might in fact be geysers,
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ĉu tiuj ŝprucoj estas fakte gejseroj,
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and erupting from pockets
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eruptante el poŝoj
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or chambers of liquid water underneath the surface,
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aŭ kavoj de likvida akvo sub la surfaco.
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but we weren't really sure.
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Sed ni ne estis tute certaj.
01:28
However, the implications of those results --
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Tamen, la konsekvencoj de tiuj rezultoj
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of a possible environment within this moon
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pri ebla medio ene de tiu luno
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that could support prebiotic chemistry,
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kiu povus subteni prebiotan ĥemion,
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and perhaps life itself --
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kaj eble eĉ vivon mem,
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were so exciting that, in the intervening two years,
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estis tiel ekscitaj ke en la pasintaj du jaroj
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we have focused more on Enceladus.
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ni pli fokusiĝis en Encelado.
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We've flown the Cassini Spacecraft
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Ni nun flugigis la kosmoŝipon Cassini
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by this moon now several times,
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ĉirkaŭ tiu luno plurajn fojojn.
01:48
flying closer and deeper into these jets,
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Flugante pli proksime kaj pli profunde en tiujn ŝprucojn,
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into the denser regions of these jets,
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en la plej densajn partojn de tiuj ŝprucoj,
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so that now we have come away with some
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tiel ke nun ni alvenis al kelkaj
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very precise compositional measurements.
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tre precizaj mezuroj de la konsisto.
01:57
And we have found
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Kaj ni trovis
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that the organic compounds coming from this moon
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ke la organikaj komponaĵoj venantaj el tiu ĉi luno
02:02
are in fact more complex than we previously reported.
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estas fakte pli komplikaj ol tio kion ni antaŭe raportis.
02:05
While they're not amino acids,
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Eĉ se ili ne estas aminacidoj,
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we're now finding things like
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ni nun trovas substancojn kiel
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propane and benzene,
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propano kaj benzeno,
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hydrogen cyanide, and formaldehyde.
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hidrogena cianido, kaj formaldehido.
02:13
And the tiny water crystals here
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Kaj la etaj akvokristaloj tie ĉi
02:16
now look for all the world
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tute aspektas
02:18
like they are frozen droplets of salty water,
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kvazaŭ ili estas glaciigitaj gutetoj de sala akvo.
02:21
which is a discovery that suggests
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Kio estas malkovro sugestanta
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that not only do the jets come from
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ne nur ke la ŝprucoj venas el
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pockets of liquid water,
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poŝoj de likva akvo,
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but that that liquid water is in contact with rock.
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sed ke tiu likva akvo estas en kontakto kun roko.
02:30
And that is a circumstance
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Kaj tiu estas cirkonstanco
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that could supply the chemical energy
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kiu povus alporti la ĥemian energion
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and the chemical compounds needed to sustain life.
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kaj la ĥemiajn komponaĵojn necesajn por subteni vivon.
02:37
So we are very encouraged by these results.
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Ni do estas tre kuraĝigitaj pro tiuj ĉi rezultoj.
02:40
And we are much more confident now than we were two years ago
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Kaj ni estas multe pli memfidaj nun ol ni estis antaŭ du jaroj
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that we might indeed
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ke ni ja povus
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have on this moon, under the south pole,
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havi en tiu ĉi luno, sub la suda poluso,
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an environment or a zone that is hospitable to living organisms.
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medion aŭ areon gastaman por vivaj estaĵoj.
02:52
Whether or not there are living organisms there, of course,
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Ĉu estas tie vivaj estaĵoj aŭ ne,
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is an entirely different matter.
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tio estas kompreneble tute alia afero.
02:57
And that will have to await the arrival,
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Kaj tio devas atendi la alvenon
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back at Enceladus,
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reen al Encelado
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of the spacecrafts, hopefully some time in the near future,
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de kosmoŝipoj, espereble iam en proksima estonto,
03:05
specifically equipped to address that particular question.
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specife ekipitaj por celi tiun specifan aferon.
03:09
But in the meantime I invite you to imagine the day
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Sed dume mi invitas vin imagi la tagon
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when we might journey to the Saturnine system,
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kiam ni povus ekskursi al la saturna sistemo,
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and visit the Enceladus interplanetary geyser park,
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kaj viziti la enceladan interplanedan gejserparkon,
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just because we can.
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simple ĉar ni povas.
03:21
Thank you.
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Dankon.
03:23
(Applause)
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(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

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