Govert to the edge of the Universe

When the sky falls. (1x1)

Data emisji: Maj 14, 2019

On average once every three to four years one ends up in the Netherlands: a meteorite. The most recent impact was in 2017, just north of Amsterdam. Usually such a thing goes unnoticed, but there have also been catastrophic meteorite impacts with disastrous consequences. Take the one from 66 million years ago in Yucatán, Mexico, for example, which ended the dinosaurs. In this episode, Govert investigates how afraid we should be for this kind of cosmic disaster and whether we can do something about it. The American government, in particular, is investing serious sums of money to chart the floating cosmic "rubble". Govert meets asteroids experts, visits their telescopes and hears how they work. Carolyn Shoemaker tells about her discovery of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, the impact of which on Jupiter was the first to be seen live. The chairman of the B612 Foundation, Danica Remy, tells Govert how you can avert the danger of an imminent cosmic impact. But it appears that these plans are only theory for the time being ...