Ideas worth spreading

1,483,929 views | Carrie Nugent • TED2016

Las aventuras de una cazadora de asteroides

Carrie Nugent, becada de TED, es una cazadora de asteroides - forma parte de un grupo de científicos que trabajan para descubrir y catalogar nuestros vecinos cósmicos más antiguos y numerosos. ¿Por qué no hay que perder de vista a los asteroides? En esta corta charla, colmada de hechos, Nugent explica cómo estos impresionantes impactos han dado forma a nuestro planeta; y cómo encontrarlos en el momento justo, podría significar nada menos que salvar la vida en la Tierra.

Become a TED Member

Want to hear more great ideas like this one? Sign up for TED Membership to get exclusive access to captivating conversations, engaging events, and more!

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Petition your congressional representatives to support NASA. More than 95 percent of near-Earth asteroids have been discovered by NASA-funded surveys. If you feel strongly about this and are a US citizen, you can reach out to your representatives and express your support for NASA to continue the search.

Carrie Nugent, becada de TED, es una cazadora de asteroides - forma parte de un grupo de científicos que trabajan para descubrir y catalogar nuestros vecinos cósmicos más antiguos y numerosos. ¿Por qué no hay que perder de vista a los asteroides? En esta corta charla, colmada de hechos, Nugent explica cómo estos impresionantes impactos han dado forma a nuestro planeta; y cómo encontrarlos en el momento justo, podría significar nada menos que salvar la vida en la Tierra.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Petition your congressional representatives to support NASA. More than 95 percent of near-Earth asteroids have been discovered by NASA-funded surveys. If you feel strongly about this and are a US citizen, you can reach out to your representatives and express your support for NASA to continue the search.

About the speaker

Asteroid hunter

See speaker profile

Carrie Nugent is part of a team that uses NASA's NEOWISE telescope to search the skies for and catalog asteroids.

| Explore

NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office

The NASA office concerned with potentially hazardous objects (PHOs), which are defined as the asteroids or comets whose orbits get within 0.05 AU (an astronomical unit, the average distance between the Earth and the Sun) of Earth's orbit and are above a certain size. They are responsible for the early detection of PHOs, tracking and characterizing PHOs, providing timely and accurate communications about PHOs and coordinating the US government planning for a response in the case of an actual impact threat.

| Explore

Center for Near-Earth Object Studies

Learn about near-Earth asteroids and comets, and see which objects will be making close approaches to Earth.

| Explore

Minor Planet Center

This is the designated archive for positional measurements of asteroids and comets. The Minor Planet Center also determines orbits and decides when a new asteroid has been discovered. The front page has latest stats on asteroid discoveries.

| Explore

International Asteroid Warning Network

A United Nations-sanctioned organization of asteroid observers, orbit computers, physical property specialists and other scientists and communications experts that study near-Earth objects.

| Listen

Spacepod

Looking for a glimpse into current space research? Each week on this podcast I share a drink with a scientist or engineer who explores space, and we chat about their work.

Episodes having to do with asteroids can be found here.

Learn more