Learn about meteorites at Earth and Space Open House

ASU’s Earth & Space Open House is set to take place from 7 to 10 p.m., Oct. 25, at the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV (ISTB 4) on ASU’s Tempe campus.

Visitors to the free event can attend a public lecture, gaze at the fall sky through telescopes, watch science demonstrations and explore the interactive displays in ISTB 4, which is located at the corner of McAllister and Terrace.

Students from the School of Earth and Space Exploration – experts in astrobiology, earthquakes, the moon, Mars, meteorites, geology, cosmology and more – will be on hand to answer questions and interact with visitors in the state-of-the-art Gallery of Scientific Exploration.

Meenakshi Wadhwa, professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and director of the Center for Meteorite Studies, will kick off the event with a talk about meteorites. The lecture, titled “Hunting for Meteorites in Antarctica,” will be held at 8:00 p.m. in the Marston Exploration Theater. Wadhwa will be discussing why Antarctica is a great hunting ground for meteorites and why it is worth the effort to collect these space rocks in such a harsh environment.

Lectures are 45 minutes long, followed by a 15-minute Q & A session. Seating is on a first come basis.

There will be two 3-D planetarium shows at 7:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.

Telescopes will be set up from 8 to 10 p.m. on the top level of the Rural Road parking structure next to ISTB 4.

To get to the open house, go to the main entrance of ISTB 4, located on the building’s north side.

The monthly open house is partially sponsored by The School of Earth and Space Exploration, GeoClub and AstroDevils: ASU Astronomy Club. The next Earth & Space Open House will be held Nov. 22.

For more information, visit http://astopenhouse.com/.

The School of Earth and Space Exploration is an academic unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.