Professor Jack Baggaley FRAS FRSNZ, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
Comets and asteroids provide us with vital clues as to how the solar system was born. Small sized asteroids may reach the ground as meteorites, sometimes producing impact craters or exploding dramatically. Impacts by large comets and asteroids are a very real threat to the survival of mankind. There are international programmes with networks of dedicated telescopes to map the positions of these objects and forecast their future trajectories and approaches to the Earth. (Recorded in Christchurch)