Observatory Traces Last Year of Comet

When Comet Shoemaker-Levy crashed into Jupiter in July, it was one of the most-watched astronomical events in modern times. The Griffith Observatory’s new multimedia planetarium program examines the comet from discovery to its fiery demise.

“Comet Crash” examines Comet Shoemaker-Levy from its discovery at Palomar Observatory in 1993 to its spectacular collision with the giant planet, observed by almost every major telescope in the world.

The program also evaluates the risk of such an event to Earth and assesses what might be done to avert such a catastrophe. It will run through Dec. 11. (213) 664-1191.

SEISMOLOGY

* The Los Angeles Community Reuse Organization will host a workshop on the Northridge earthquake at the Department of Energy Technology Engineering Center near Chatsworth at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. (818) 586-6424.

SCIENCE FOR FAMILIES

* Children 8 and older with an adult can take a behind-the-scenes tour of the collection of whale, dolphin, walrus, seal and sea otter skeletons at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s Marine Mammal Research Facility in Vernon on Saturday at 1 p.m. Advance registration required. (213) 744-3534.

SCIENCE POLICY

* “Redefining Environmentalism: Questions of Gender, Race and Class” will be discussed by Robert Gottlieb, of the UCLA Department of Urban Planning, at the Caltech Seminar on Science, Ethics and Public Policy at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Judy Library. (818) 395-4652.

* Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Monkey Wars,” will discuss the controversy of using primates in research at 7 p.m. Thursday at the George C. Page Museum (213) 744-3534, and at 2 p.m. Sunday at Caltech’s Baxter Lecture Hall (818) 794-3119.

* Princeton professor Charles F. Westoff will discuss “Population Prospects and Policies for the 21st Century” at noon Monday at the Pomona College Blue Room, Frank Dining Hall. (909) 621-3026.

METEOROLOGY

* Robert Farber, senior research scientist for Southern California Edison, will discuss “Changing Trends in Visibility in the Los Angeles Basin and the Colorado Plateau,” at the American Meteorological Society at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Edison building in Rosemead. Call (213) 343-2222.

* The colony of water birds, including some endangered species, at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve will be the topic at the Pasadena Audubon Society meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Los Angeles County Arboretum. (818) 798-5522.