Could the Earth be hit by an asteroid large enough to kill everything on the planet? If so, is there anything we can do about it? The answer to both of these questions is yes – but fortunately, this happens so rarely that it is highly unlikely that anybody will experience events like the ones you will see in “Deep Impact”.

The Earth is constantly bombarded with rocks from the Solar System. Most of the pieces that hit us are very small. They hit the upper atmosphere travelling at an almost unbelievable speed of 10-30 miles per second, creating beautiful shooting stars as they melt in the upper atmosphere. Although most pieces are small, an estimated 75000 tons of this material hit the Earth every year. Sometimes the fragments are larger and penetrate the atmosphere at high speed creating craters as they impact the Earth. Fortunately, such events are very rare but craters on the Earth and Moon tell a story of large impacts in the relatively recent past.

A famous example is the 10 mile asteroid that almost killed all life on the Earth including the dinosaurs – and made it possible for the mammals to become the dominating species on Earth. Without that impact you would not be going to The Gem to see Deep Impact!

In his introduction to the movie, Henning Haack will tell you what happens when the Earth takes a hit – and what we can do to avoid it in the future. You will also be able to take a look at some samples of the materials that hit the Earth from time to time.

7:15-9:15pm: Film “Deep Impact”, [PG-13], A comet is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth. As doomsday nears, the human race prepares for the worst.

A huge thank you to:

An initiative of the COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE, with major support from the ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.