event
2 mins read 25 Mar 2020

Discovering Earth’s oldest asteroid strike

25 MAR 2020 | 6:30PM - 7:45PM
Perth

Want to find out how Curtin’s very own scientists discovered Earth’s oldest asteroid strike? Join us for this exclusive event on Wednesday 25 March.

ABOUT

Hear from NASA’s Dr. Timmons Erickson and the team of Curtin researchers responsible for discovering Earth’s oldest asteroid strike, a 2.229 billion-year-old crater at Yarrabubba in Western Australia.

Research undertaken earlier this year discovered Earth’s oldest asteroid strike occurred at Yarrabubba, in outback Western Australia, and coincided with the end of a global deep freeze known as a Snowball Earth. Isotopic analysis of minerals calculated the precise age of the Yarrabubba crater for the first time, a staggering 2.229 billion years old – making it 200 million years older than the next oldest impact!

In an exclusive evening lecture held at the Tim Winton Lecture Theatre on Wednesday 25 March, hear from NASA’s Dr. Timmons Erickson and the Curtin research team about the moment they made the monumental discovery.

At the event, you will also get the opportunity to ask Dr. Erickson and the Curtin research team questions about the discovery.

Dr. Erickson will talk about the discovery of the oldest asteroid strike on Earth, called Yarrabubba, which is located on the road to Meekatharra in Western Australia. The impact site was discovered nearly 20 years ago, however, the age of impact was not known until now. Using research techniques and equipment, the team were able to determine the age and impact of Yarrabubba – 2.229 billion years old, making it the oldest known asteroid to strike. Dr. Erickson will also discuss the impact the asteroid could have had to cause the end of one of the Earth’s oldest ice ages.

SPEAKER

Dr. Timmons Erickson is a Jacobs-JETS Research Scientist in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center. Prior to joining JSC, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas and a Research Associate within Curtin University’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences. He completed his Ph.D. at Curtin University and received an MSc from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez and a Bachelors from Oberlin College.

Getting There

Tim Winton Lecture Theatre
Curtin University
Kent Street, Bentley
Perth

Tickets can be obtained from the Curtin University website