Are we smarter than dinosaurs? Detecting near Earth objects
Speaker: Jay Tate, Director of the British National Spaceguard Centre
The Earth has a long and violent history of collisions with extra-terrestrial objects such as asteroids and comets, causing mass extinctions and severe changes to global climate and geography. Many smaller impacts, such as the Chelyabinsk event as recently as 2013, have caused considerable damage leaving no long term traces.
In his talk Tate will analyse the nature and extent of the Near Earth Object (NEO) hazard, how it can be dealt with, and give an up to date account of what is currently being done to address the most significant long term natural threat to the Earth’s ecosystem.
About the speaker
Jay Tate is the Director of the British National Spaceguard Centre. After serving as an officer in the British Army, Jay is now a consultant to the International Astronomical Union Working Group on Near Earth Objects, an associate of COSPAR, the vice-president of the Space Development Council and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Please register for this talk as it helps with the rooming and refreshment arrangements and allows us to contact you should there be any changes to the talk details.
Lectures are free and open to the public. Light refreshments (drinks and biscuits) are provided. They take place in the Poynting Large Lecture Theatre on the 2nd floor of the Poynting Physics Building, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT. This is building R13 on the campus map.
Doors to the Large Lecture Theatre will be open from 7pm. The talk begins at 7.30pm.
Car parking on campus is usually available and free after 6pm. There is a railway station on campus called ‘University’ – connections to Birmingham New Street and the cross city line are approx. every 10 minutes. Get more travel information.