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: Uma lua de Saturno poderá sustentar vida?

Filmed:
1,054,733 views

Carolyn Porco partilha excitantes novas descobertas da recente passagem da nave especial Cassini a uma das luas de Saturno, a Encélado. Amostras colhidas dos geiseres de gelo da mesma sugerem que um oceano debaixo da sua superfície poderá sustentar vida.
- 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.

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Two yearsanos agoatrás here at TEDTED
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Há dois anos, aqui no TED,
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I reportedrelatado that we had discovereddescobriu
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informei que tínhamos descoberto
em Saturno, com a nave espacial Cassini,
00:22
at SaturnSaturno, with the CassiniCassini SpacecraftNave espacial,
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00:25
an anomalouslyanormalmente warmcaloroso and geologicallygeologicamente activeativo regionregião
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uma região anormalmente quente
e geologicamente activa
00:28
at the southernsul tipgorjeta of the smallpequeno SaturnineSaturnino moonlua
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na ponta sul da pequena lua saturnina
Encélado, que aqui se vê.
00:31
EnceladusEnceladus, seenvisto here.
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This regionregião seenvisto here for the first time
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Esta região vista aqui pela primeira vez
na imagem tirada pela Cassini em 2005.
00:35
in the CassiniCassini imageimagem takenocupado in 2005. This is the southsul polarpolar regionregião,
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Esta é a região polar sul,
com as famosas fracturas riscas-de-tigre
00:40
with the famousfamoso tiger-stripeTigre-listra fracturesfraturas crossingcruzando the southsul polepólo.
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a atravessarem o pólo sul.
00:43
And seenvisto just recentlyrecentemente in lateatrasado 2008,
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E vista recentemente no final de 2008,
00:47
here is that regionregião again,
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aqui está essa região novamente,
agora na semi-escuridão
00:49
now halfmetade in darknessTrevas because the southernsul hemisphereHemisfério
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porque o hemisfério sul está
a passar pelo início de Agosto
00:52
is experiencingexperimentando the onsetinício of AugustAgosto
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00:55
and eventuallyeventualmente winterinverno.
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ou seja, o Inverno.
00:57
And I alsoAlém disso reportedrelatado that we'dqua madefeito this mind-blowingsurpreendente discoverydescoberta --
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E também informei que tínhamos feito
esta impressionante descoberta,
01:00
this once-in-a-lifetimeuma vez na vida discoverydescoberta
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— uma descoberta que só acontece
uma vez na vida —
01:02
of toweringelevando-se jetsjatos
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de jactos elevadíssimos
01:04
eruptingem erupção from those fracturesfraturas at the southsul polepólo,
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em erupção nessas fracturas no pólo sul,
01:07
consistingconsistindo of tinyminúsculo wateragua icegelo crystalscristais
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que consistem em minúsculos
cristais de água em gelo,
01:09
accompaniedacompanhado by wateragua vaporvapor de
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acompanhados por vapor de água
01:12
and simplesimples organicorgânico compoundscompostos like carboncarbono dioxidedióxido and methanemetano.
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e componentes orgânicos simples
como dióxido de carbono e metano.
01:16
And at that time two yearsanos agoatrás
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E nessa altura, há dois anos,
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I mentionedmencionado that we were speculatingespeculando
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mencionei que estávamos a especular
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that these jetsjatos mightpoderia in factfacto be geysersgeysers,
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que esses jactos poderiam
de facto ser geiseres,
01:22
and eruptingem erupção from pocketsbolsos
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em erupção a partir de bolsas
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or chamberscâmaras de of liquidlíquido wateragua underneathpor baixo the surfacesuperfície,
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ou câmaras de água líquida
abaixo da superfície.
01:26
but we weren'tnão foram really sure.
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Mas não tínhamos a certeza absoluta.
01:28
HoweverNo entanto, the implicationsimplicações of those resultsresultados --
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De qualquer forma,
as implicação desses resultados
01:31
of a possiblepossível environmentmeio Ambiente withindentro this moonlua
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de um possível ambiente nesta lua
01:34
that could supportApoio, suporte prebioticprebiótico chemistryquímica,
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que pudesse suportar química pré-biótica,
01:36
and perhapspossivelmente life itselfem si --
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e talvez a própria vida,
01:39
were so excitingemocionante that, in the interveningintervir two yearsanos,
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foram tão excitantes que,
nos dois anos seguintes,
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we have focusedfocado more on EnceladusEnceladus.
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concentrámo-nos mais na Encélado.
01:43
We'veTemos flownvoou the CassiniCassini SpacecraftNave espacial
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Lançámos a nave espacial Cassini
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by this moonlua now severalde várias timesvezes,
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para esta lua diversas vezes.
01:48
flyingvôo closermais perto and deeperDeeper into these jetsjatos,
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voando mais perto
e mais profundamente nestes jactos,
01:51
into the densermais denso regionsregiões of these jetsjatos,
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até às regiões mais densas destes jactos,
01:53
so that now we have come away with some
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pelo que agora obtivemos algumas
medidas de composição muito precisas.
01:55
very precisepreciso compositionalcomposição measurementsmedições.
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01:57
And we have foundencontrado
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Descobrimos que os componentes orgânicos
que saem desta lua
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that the organicorgânico compoundscompostos comingchegando from this moonlua
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02:02
are in factfacto more complexcomplexo than we previouslyanteriormente reportedrelatado.
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são de facto mais complexos
do que anteriormente informámos.
02:05
While they're not aminoamino acidsácidos,
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Embora não sejam aminoácidos,
02:07
we're now findingencontrando things like
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estamos agora a encontrar
coisas como propano e benzina,
02:09
propanepropano and benzenebenzeno,
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02:11
hydrogenhidrogênio cyanidecianeto, and formaldehydeformaldeído.
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hidrogénio, cianeto e formaldeído.
02:13
And the tinyminúsculo wateragua crystalscristais here
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E os minúsculos cristais de água aqui
02:16
now look for all the worldmundo
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agora parecem a todo o mundo
02:18
like they are frozencongeladas dropletsgotas of saltysalgado wateragua,
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como pingos congelados de água salgada.
02:21
whichqual is a discoverydescoberta that suggestssugere
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O que é uma descoberta que sugere
02:23
that not only do the jetsjatos come from
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que não só os jactos surgem
de bolsas de água líquida,
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pocketsbolsos of liquidlíquido wateragua,
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02:27
but that that liquidlíquido wateragua is in contactcontato with rockRocha.
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mas que essa água líquida
está em contacto com rocha.
02:30
And that is a circumstancecircunstância
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Isso é uma circunstância
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that could supplyfornecem the chemicalquímico energyenergia
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que poderia fornecer a energia química
02:34
and the chemicalquímico compoundscompostos needednecessário to sustainsustentar life.
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e os componentes químicos
necessários para sustentar vida.
02:37
So we are very encouragedincentivou by these resultsresultados.
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Portanto estamos muito encorajados
com estes resultados
02:40
And we are much more confidentconfiante now than we were two yearsanos agoatrás
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e estamos muito mais confiantes
do que estávamos há dois anos
02:43
that we mightpoderia indeedde fato
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de que possamos, de facto,
02:45
have on this moonlua, undersob the southsul polepólo,
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ter nesta lua, debaixo do pólo sul,
02:48
an environmentmeio Ambiente or a zonezona that is hospitablehospitaleiro to livingvivo organismsorganismos.
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um ambiente ou uma zona que seja
hospitaleira para organismos vivos.
02:52
WhetherSe or not there are livingvivo organismsorganismos there, of coursecurso,
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A existência ou não-existência
de organismos vivos, obviamente,
02:55
is an entirelyinteiramente differentdiferente matterimportam.
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é um assunto totalmente diferente.
02:57
And that will have to awaitesperam por the arrivalchegada,
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E que terá que aguardar
o regresso das naves espaciais a Encélado,
02:59
back at EnceladusEnceladus,
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03:02
of the spacecraftsnaves espaciais, hopefullyesperançosamente some time in the nearperto futurefuturo,
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esperemos que num futuro próximo,
03:05
specificallyespecificamente equippedequipado to addressendereço that particularespecial questionquestão.
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especificamente equipadas para responder
a esta questão em particular.
03:09
But in the meantimeentretanto I inviteconvite you to imagineImagine the day
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Mas, por enquanto,
eu convido-os a imaginarem
o dia em que poderemos fazer uma viagem
até ao sistema saturnino,
03:12
when we mightpoderia journeyviagem to the SaturnineSaturnino systemsistema,
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03:15
and visitVisita the EnceladusEnceladus interplanetaryinterplanetário geysergêiser parkparque,
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e visitar o parque de geiseres
interplanetário de Encélado,
03:19
just because we can.
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simplesmente porque podemos.
03:21
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
(Aplauso)
03:23
(ApplauseAplausos)
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Translated by Alexandre Loureiro
Reviewed by Carlos Modesto

▲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