Asteroids: Friends or Foes?

Asteroids: Friends or Foes?

This meeting will be via Zoom.  If you are interested, please contact Sue Hubbard to obtain the link needed.

Since spotting the first "minor planet" in 1801, astronomers have discovered more than 750,000 small rocky bodies orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. Spacecraft have seen 15 of them at close range, most recently NASA and Japanese spacecraft designed to land on their targets and return samples to waiting scientists. Meanwhile, tons of "space rocks" fall as meteorites onto Earth every year. Yet we really know little about asteroids — how they formed, what they're like, and when one of them might strike Earth with enough force to create widespread damage. This presentation will explore the science and science fiction of these rocky bodies.

Kelly Beatty has been explaining the science and wonder of astronomy to the public since 1974. An award-winning writer and communicator, he is a Senior Editor for Cambridge-based Sky & Telescope magazine. Beatty enjoys sharing his passion for astronomy with a wide spectrum of audiences, from children to professional astronomers, and you'll occasionally hear his interviews and guest commentaries on National Public Radio and The Weather Channel. He served for a decade on the Board of Directors for the International Dark-Sky Association.