The Earth is constantly being bombarded by objects from space. Generally, they are small enough to burn up in the atmosphere, but some are large enough to land on Earth's surface…sometimes with devastating results. In April of 1908, an asteroid or comet approximately 80 meters in diameter exploded above Siberia with a force of almost 20 million tons of TNT, and decimated an area of 800 square kilometers. If it had arrived as little as 6 hours later, London would have been completely destroyed.

The Watch is a project of the Space Frontier Foundation underwritten by the Foundation for the International Non-Governmental Development of Space (FINDS). The Watch helps astronomers world-wide search for and track the objects that could cross Earth’s orbit and represent the threat of destruction...or the promise of abundant material resources.

Join members of the Foundation, Friends of the Observatory, astronomers and other interested people for a presentation on Asteroids: The Threat and the Promise, by the Watch and JPL. Featured will be Ken Lawrence of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) project at JPL as well as Dr. Paul Chodes of JPL, and Rick Tumlinson of the Space Frontier Foundation.

Monday, March 5, 2001
$5 per person
7:30 pm
Griffith Planetarium
323-663-1181

Light refreshment will follow a question and answer period following the presentation. All are welcome.