Go on an Asteroid Hunt at California Science Center

• "Asteroid Hunters 3D" screens at the California Science Center IMAX theater through Sept. 5
• $8.95 adult; $6.75 child; other ticket tiers available
• The documentary follows asteroid-hunting scientists, exploring the tools they use

Contemplating a sizable object moving quickly through the Solar System can sometimes be a bit of a sticky wicket for a curious earthling, especially if we're keen to know the object's girth, width, and other facts about the faraway source of our fascination.

Or not-so-faraway, in the case of some asteroids doing a fairly close whizz-by.

So we hear that an asteroid is the length of three football fields, if three football fields could be stacked high, or that the asteroid in question is as tall as a small skyscraper.

But if we really want to know these hurtling-through-space superstars better, we can make a date to watch "Asteroid Hunters 3D," a brand-new IMAX film screening at the California Science Center through Sept. 5.

Football field comparisons are certainly descriptive, but watching asteroid-knowing pros at work, as they trace these cosmic bodies and learn more about them, feels like a way to up our general asteroid acumen.

We're also interested in what would happen after a major impact, and the various planetary defenses that might prevent an especially enormous asteroid connecting with our home turf.

The "cutting-edge tools and techniques" employed by scientists to "detect and track asteroids" are explored during the film, which is narrated by actor Daisy Ridley.

It's a film that takes us into space, or at least gives us that feeling of beholding a vast field of stars, thanks to the seven-story screen.

The 3D element also adds to that "you are there" sensation (and, yes, those glasses are sanitized between every showing).

Tickets, times, and making plans to visit the California Science Center, which is next to the theater, while there? You can discover all you need to know here.