Flamsteed Astronomy Society

December 14, 2015

Asteroids Small and Large: when’s the next one coming?

Professor Alan Fitzsimmons
Report by: Mike Meynell
Professor Alan Fitzsimmons

Professor Alan Fitzsimmons

The impact of a small asteroid in Russia in 2013 reminded everyone of the potential dangers from space. Producing a fireball brighter than the Sun, over a thousand people were injured by the resulting shockwave. Larger asteroids can be much more deadly. In this talk, Professor Alan Fitzsimmons addressed what we know – and what we don’t know – about the asteroids and comets that could be on a collision course.

Alan answered questions on where the asteroids are, how can we detect them, and what could we do if we find one coming our way.

Alan Fitzsimmons is a Professor of Astronomy in the Astrophysics Research Centre, Queen’s University Belfast. His field of expertise is the study of asteroids and comets.

He co-leads the Pan-STARRS inner solar system project, and works within the NEOShield project on preventing asteroid impacts, among other interests. In the past year he has also been busy on observations supporting the Rosetta mission and featured on BBC programmes such as The Sky at Night and Horizon.

Here are some pictures from the evening:

Pictures from the Evening (by Mike Meynell):

Alan describes his work at the Pan-STARRS project
Professor Alan Fitzsimmons introduces his talk
A Cheery Slide for the Xmas Lecture! – The Asteroid Impact Kill Curve
The Distribution of Asteroids in the Solar System
Alan demonstrates the orbital paths of asteroids
Discoveries of Near-Earth Asteroids by Year
Alan describes the impact energy of the Chicxulub impact
Professor Alan Fitzsimmons talks about NEOs
Professor Alan Fitzsimmons
Professor Alan Fitzsimmons
Alan answers questions after the lecture

Posted under: Flamsteed, Flamsteed Lecture, Meeting Report