On Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m., Burrell Memorial Observatory will be presenting a lecture in Kleist Center for Art & Drama.

The lecture, named “The Serpent Mound and the Asteroid Impact”, will be presented by Dr. Keith Milam, the assistant professor of geology at Ohio University.

The lecture will focus on the Serpent Mound impact structure and past, present, and future research surrounding it. In addition to this, it will touch on why scientists study impact craters.

The Serpent Mound is an impact structure left by an asteroid that struck the Earth over 300 million years ago. It is nine miles in diameter and organisms would have felt the impact of the asteroid up to 500 miles away.

According to Milam, “Serpent Mound itself is a Paleoindian effigy mound located in the southwest corner of the Serpent Mound impact structure in southern Ohio.”

Gary Kader, director of Burrell Observatory, said that the Serpent Mound could have been used as burial mounds that served religious purposes. Unfortunately, much has eroded away.

The crater was discovered by John Locke when he was on a geological survey of Ohio and then published his results in 1838.  This is a ticketed event and complimentary tickets can be purchased at www.bw.edu.

After the lecture is finished, head over to the Burrell Observatory for a viewing of Saturn through the telescope.

The observatory hosts four programs each year, with two each semester.

Students can also sign up on BlackBoard for email notifications for when the observatory is open for viewings.