Edelman Planetarium hosts Asteroid Day activities

The Fredric and Jean Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University will host Asteroid Day on Friday, June 30, from 1 to 4 p.m.

Asteroid Day is a global awareness campaign during which people from around the world come together to learn about asteroids; the impact hazard they may pose; and what we can do to protect our planet, families, communities, and future generations from asteroid impacts. Asteroid Day is held each year on the anniversary of the largest impact in recent history, the 1908 Tunguska event in Siberia. 

To mark the day, the Edelman Planetarium will offer free shows; hands-on activities; and a special 3 p.m. talk (Exploring Asteroids Through Sample Return: The Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx Space Missions) with Dr. Harold C. Connolly Jr., chair of Rowan’s Geology Department and mission sample scientist for NASA's OSIRIS-Rex (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer).

Hands-on Activities:

Create your own pocket solar system.
Get up close and personal with some 3D printed models of asteroids

Planetarium Shows:

1:30 p.m.—Asteroid Impact Mission—The Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) is a European Space Agency's (ESA) mission, scheduled to be launched in 2020. AIM will travel to a binary asteroid system—the paired Didymos asteroids, which will come a comparatively close 16 million km to Earth in 2022. ESA considers AIM to be a small mission of opportunity to demonstrate technologies mainly in the telecommunications domain, but as its Proba family of missions has demonstrated, the best way to prove new technologies is to achieve valuable scientific return.

2 p.m.—Incoming!—In the California Academy of Sciences’ latest original planetarium show, Incoming!, audiences will discover how asteroids and comets have collided with our planet throughout history, changing the course of life on Earth and shaping the world we know today. From the comfort of a planetarium seat, viewers will embark on a dynamic journey on the trail of asteroids and comets, get an up-close look at the advanced technologies that allow scientists to detect asteroids before they reach Earth, and visualize historic space events billions of years in the making—all within an immersive, all-digital dome that brings the story of our cosmic origins to life like never before. Narrated by George Takei, Incoming! explores the past, present, and future of our solar system and the landmark discoveries scientists have made by sending spacecraft to visit tiny worlds.

Contact planetarium@rowan.edu or call 856-256-4389 for more information.