Film Night August 2025 – The Planets , 25 years later : Giants

The gas-giant planets of our Solar System have been the subject of interest and study for millennia. Their light and brightness gave them titles from that of Ancient Roman gods. When Galileo Galilei turned his telescope to Jupiter, he was able to prove that not everything revolves around the sun, and so started the development of Astronomy as one of the cornerstones of science and knowledge. After learning to fly, we started to explore the Solar System soon thereafter. The best ships we had could get us to Jupiter, and it was supreme good fortune that the Grand Opportunity arrived in the 1970’s to allow Pioneer 10 & 11, and then Voyager 1 and 2 to visit the giant planets, and their moons, for the first time.

Since then, humanity has returned to the Giants, and there are more plans to do so. Observations from the earth, and earth orbit, continue to reveal new things about the giants, both in this solar system, and beyond.

Understanding why we are here : Jupiter, the asteroid belt, and gravitational sweeping.
Returning to the Giants : Juno, and more to come.
Jupiter and Saturn’s growing retinue of moons (there are hundreds now !)
The Vera C. Rubin observatory and the Giants – more moons are likely.
Looking for life – exploration of Europa and Titan
The outer worlds – the Jupiter-class gas giants orbiting other stars – the Space Oddities.