Explore comets, meteors and more at Museum of Arts and Sciences’ latest exhibit

Movies like “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact” tap into a fascination with a possible catastrophic impact from an asteroid or comet that has haunted humanity since the first shooting stars were seen streaking across the night skies.

Now, Middle Georgians can discover more about these celestial events at the Museum of Arts and Sciences’ interactive exhibit called “Great Balls of Fire: Comets, Asteroids and Meteors,” which runs through Sept. 11.

“We pick exhibits like this that are education-oriented so we can tap into children’s inner wonder junkies,” said museum spokesperson Sherry Singleton. “We want them to come in and explore stuff that maybe they’ve touched on in school that year, and then hopefully expand on that.”

The 3,500 square-foot hands-on exhibition is divided into four areas — origins, asteroids, comets and impacts — with themes of exploration, risk and the scientists behind the discoveries.

The “Impact” exhibit area is especially exciting for visitors, Singleton says.

“It makes this huge explosion and this big crater in the ground,” Singleton said.

Visitors can touch meteors and then make their own, miniature impact by dropping a ball in water, which is recorded with high speed cameras and then played back in slow motion to show the effects.

“It shows the water, which represents the earth’s crust, and how it projects outward as (the ball or meteor) hits,” Singleton said.

The family-friendly exhibit was developed by the Space Science Institute, with funding from the National Science Foundation and NASA, to also explore mysteries surrounding major impacts past and future.

“There’s a lot of speculation about whether or not they killed off the dinosaurs, and whether or not the Earth will perish in the future because of an asteroid hit,” Singleton said. “What are scientists doing to explore these questions, and what are they watching at any point in time? And what are they doing to divert a possible future impact?”

Singleton says the exhibit complements the museum’s planetarium and its sphere, a 6-foot animated globe developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that was installed last September.

“This exhibit helps us realize that our Earth is a reflection of what is going on up there,” Singleton said. “By looking up and exploring, we can actually learn more about ourselves, where we come from and where we are headed.”

This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Explore comets, meteors and more at Museum of Arts and Sciences’ latest exhibit."