The NEO Hazard: ‘Imiloa hosting talk about efforts to protect planet from asteroids

Near-Earth objects, or NEOs, are leftover bits of solar system jetsam and flotsam nudged into orbit around the Earth, allowing them to come within our close vicinity. NASA recently established a new office to coordinate planetary defense-related activities to mitigate the hazard of potential impact by such asteroids.

Learn more about possible asteroid impacts and NASA protection efforts at 7 p.m. Saturday during ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s next astronomy talk featuring NASA’s Rob Landis and Kelly Fast.

The creation of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office is an extension of NASA’s NEO Observations programs, which began nearly two decades ago.

Since that program’s inception in 1998, NASA-funded endeavors have discovered more than 98 percent of all new NEOs. Observatories on Hawaii Island and Maui are key to these discoveries and help better understand the makeup of these celestial vagabonds.

During their presentation, Fast and Landis will share current efforts to detect, track and characterize comets and asteroids that come close to Earth. They also will discuss the steps that NASA plans to take to deflect a potential asteroid on an impact trajectory.

Landis currently is assigned to NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., and is an engineer within the Planetary Science Division, Science Mission Directorate.

Fast manages the NEO Observations Program and also is the NASA Infrared Telescope facility program scientist.

General admission tickets are $10 or $8 for members (member-level discounts apply). Pre-purchase tickets at ‘Imiloa’s front desk or by phone at 932-8901.

For more information, visit ImiloaHawaii.org.