Video: Rubble Piles in the Sky – The Science, Exploration, and Danger of Near-Earth Asteroids

Dr. Michael Busch of the SETI Institute recently gave the following talk in the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series sponsored by the Astronomical Society of the PacificRubble Piles in the Sky: The Science, Exploration, and Danger of Near-Earth Asteroids –

Near-Earth asteroids are a population of small bodies whose orbits around the Sun cross or come near our planet’s orbit. They turn out to be unusual physical environments: essentially rubble piles. They represent a natural hazard we ignore at our peril, because some of these bodies have the potential to impact Earth. Dr. Busch reviews the near-Earth population, programs to track and characterize near-Earth asteroids, and current efforts to address the danger of asteroid impacts.

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