Washoe County Library System

"Asteroids and comets: Every year, millions of these 'stray bullets' streak the skies, and tons of small meteorites strike our planet! Some 65 million years ago, dinosaurs were wiped off the face of the earth in what many believe was the aftermath of a massive comet collision. Could something like this happen again? Scientists believe that the impact of an asteroid only a mile wide would be globally catastrophic. Join extraordinary geologist Eugene...

Describes the formation, surface features, and exploration of asteroids, including the search for near-Earth asteroids.

What's the point in solving murders if we're all going to die soon, anyway? Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There's no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact. The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world...

Set three months before a deadly asteroid is due to hit Earth, this Last Policeman sequel chronicles the further adventures of Hank Palace. The Concord Police Department is now operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, and Hank is out of a job-until he's hired by a business tycoon to help find the man's estranged son. It isn't long before Hank's missing-person case turns into a murder investigation.

Set in a too-near future, two neighbors, Dodge and Penny, react in their own unique ways to the announcement that a 70-mile-wide asteroid is en route to the Earth. Dodge wants to return to his first love. Penny just wants to get back to her family. As the unlikely companions' respective journeys converge, their outlooks -- if not the world's -- brighten in surprising and hilarious ways.

Discusses comets, asteroids, and meteors, including what they are made of, where they come from, and why they need to be studied.

Describes the role that collisions with meteors, comets, and asteroids have played in the history of Earth and other planets in the solar system and examines what is being done to protect Earth from future collisions.

"Asteroids come in all shapes and sizes--and hit our planet in them, too. But what happens if a catastrophically large one approaches earth? By looking on the ground at historical asteroid craters and present-day falls, and up into space for the big ones yet to come, a wide variety of scientists are trying to figure out how to track asteroids--and how to avoid devastating impacts in the future."--

Scrat's epic pursuit of the elusive acorn catapults him into the universe where he accidentally sets off a series of cosmic events that transform and threaten the Ice Age World. To save themselves, Sid, Manny, Diego, and the rest of the herd must leave their home and embark on a quest full of comedy and adventure, traveling to exotic new lands and encountering a host of colorful new characters.