Join us online for super/science episode 13: Finding Asteroids with Dr Maggie Lieu

It's believed that an asteroid 10km in size wiped out the Dinosaurs. As of April 2021, there are over 25,000 near-Earth objects and many of these are a potential risk to life here on Earth, but in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, there is believed to be over 2 million asteroids, some of which can reach 1000km in size! Scientists are actively searching for new, and tracking known asteroids. Often, they won't know for sure where an asteroid will hit or how big an impact it will make until a few days before the collision. When so much is at risk, how can scientists ensure that we are safe from a fate just like the dinosaurs?

Dr Maggie Lieu is a research fellow in Machine Learning and Cosmology at the University of Nottingham where she lectures the Machine Learning in Science MSc program. Prior to this, she worked at the European Space Agency in Madrid on the Euclid mission, a space telescope that is due to launch in 2022. Her main research interest is in clusters of galaxies and their role in helping us understand the Universe and the nature of dark matter. Besides academic research, Maggie is an avid science communicator who runs the science youtube channel Space Mog.

Image Credits:

Above - NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona; Writer Daniel Stolte, University of Arizona