Just what is the potential for an asteroid to hit earth?

Scientists believe that a collision at some point is inevitable and they are identifying asteroids and comets to determine their orbit to see if they are headed toward Earth.

This topic will be discussed in "Impact: The Asteroid Threat," the feature show at Santa Monica College’s popular astronomy series at the campus’ John Drescher Planetarium in June.

"Impact: The Asteroid Threat" will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, June 5, 12 and 19, and 4 p.m. Saturday, June 6. It is preceded by "The Night Sky Show" -- which re-creates the night sky and provides the latest information on space

exploration -- at 7 p.m. Fridays and 3 p.m. Saturday.

A special guest lecture, "Journey to the Heart of a Comet," by Jacklyn Green of the Jet Propulsion Lab’s Deep Space 4 Project, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, June 26. It will also be preceded by "The Night Sky Show" at 7 p.m.

The new John Drescher Planetarium -- featuring the state-of-the-art Digistar projection system -- is located on the second floor of the Technology Building, 1900 Pico Blvd. Parking is free on Friday evenings and Saturdays.

Tickets are $4 each or $7 for the "double bill." For information, call (310) 452-9223.

# # #