Celebrating Asteroid Day with a Cosmic Journey ... to the Theater

Most of the events in the movie take place in a small American desert town called Asteroid City, the name arising from its proximity to a 5,000-year-old impact crater. As a starting point, this is an excellent bit of science. The dry conditions of a desert are great for preserving features like craters because lack of rain limits erosion. One of the best-preserved craters on Earth, Meteor Crater (sometimes called Barringer Crater), is located in the American southwest and is 10 times older than the crater depicted in the movie!