"An asteroid the size of three football fields is scheduled to zoom past Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, coming closer to us than many telecommunications satellites in orbit. It will be visible to the naked eye in several countries, but it's not likely that a large space rock like this one will actually hit the Earth, acccording [sic] to astronomer Perry Gerakines, who says, 'The odds that an asteroid of this magnitude would impact the Earth are in the millions to one . . .'"
Nevertheless, it happens. The Earth is nothing if not patient. There's no huge hurry -- but sooner or later we're toast.
5 comments:
"There's no huge hurry -- but sooner or later we're toast."
Yep, and if an asteroid doesn't fuck us over, that damn supervolcano in Wyoming will!
Apparently, the reassurances in the story aren't all that reassuring. The asteroid is about 1000 ft. big and will pass within 15-25k miles of Earth, a pretty close shave astronomically. The astronomers who tracked it give it a 1 in 38 chance of hitting Earth, which is actually pretty high -- MCUH higher than the probability of being in an airline accident -- considering the timeline. It's interesting -- the alerts for asteroids that DID or WILL MISS by a big distance were given a lot of media hoopla and this one, which has a fair chance of really nailing us good is being played down. Go figure.
--WMB
STAND DOWN -- (I'm starting to sound like Hoagland!) You have to realize that this article is on Whitley Strieber's Web site. Apparently, this asteroid did cause quite a media ruckus back in December because it did look like a potential killer. However, it was subsequently demoted to being virtually a zero threat and, in the process, caused asteroid watchers to radically rethink their relationship to the media. This whole thing tells me that Strieber's Web site is maybe not the place to go for hard facts.
Oh, don't tell me Strieber's "recycling" outdated news items . . . He has an unfortunate tendency to make much ado about nothing -- as if there's a shortage of weirdness to report!
Sorry if I just sounded a false alarm; I checked for a confirming third source but didn't see any linked from Unknown Country. I guess now I know why.
Mac -- Check out the most recent asteroid story in the News section of Space.com. It mentions the Dec. 2004 asteroid with some details, including the 2029 close approach date and the initial high rating on the Torino Scale, so it sounds like the one Strieber's referring to. Don't know where he picked up his info but it seems definitely outdated.
Post a Comment