Library Event Calendar

Library Event Calendar

Access to AJML Catalog and E-books

Access to AJML Catalog and E-books
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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The library will be closed on these scheduled holidays

New Year's Day Friday, January 1st
Martin Luther King Day Monday, January 18th,
President's Day Monday, February 15th
Good Friday Friday, April 2nd
Memorial Day Monday, May 31
Independence Day Monday, July 5th
Labor Day Monday, September 6th
Veteran's Day Thursday, November 11th
Thanksgiving Thursday, November 25th
Day after Thanksgiving Friday, November 26th
Christmas Friday, December 24th
Christmas Saturday, December 25th
New Year's Day Friday, December 31st
New Year's Day Saturday, January 1st, 2011

Monday, March 29, 2010

"Defending Our World" - from asteroids and comets.

Do you watch disaster movies? If so, you have probably seen "Armaggedon", starring Bruce Willis. In a last ditch effort to save us all from a planet killing collision with an asteroid, NASA sends two space shuttles loaded with drilling equipment and an atomic bomb to see if they can destroy the asteroid. Guess what. That is not as far fetched as you might think.
The January/February 2010 issue of "Planetary Report" focuses on collisions between Earth and asteroids, both past and future. According to the articles, it's only a matter of time before another asteroid hits the planet, and this time it wouldn't be just the dinosaurs that vanish. In 2036 "we now face the potential for another detected collision. In 2029, asteroid Apophis (270 meters in diameter) will pass withing 40,000 kilometers (24,800 miles) of Earth. . .In 2036, Apophis will make another close approach, and this time it could hit our planet (the current probability of impact is 1 in 250,000)."
Those odds make it more likely that this particular asteroid will hit Earth than that any one of us will win the big one in the lottery. And of course there are many more NEO (near earth objects) than have been spotted.
So are there any plans for either destroying or deflecting this or any other asteroid? And whose responsibility is it to see that a known threat is deflected? This issue of "Planetary Report" is available at the library for checkout. Come and find out what those who study these matters have on their minds.