Posted on 04/13/2009 2:24:52 PM PDT by decimon
April 13, 2009 -- Exactly 20 years from today, an asteroid about the size of a 25-story building will come closer to Earth than the networks of communications satellites orbiting the planet.
The chance of an impact are extremely remote -- only about 1 in 45,000 -- but the asteroid, named Apophis, will be back. Analysis of the asteroid's orbit show it will return to Earth seven years later.
Astronomers don't yet know if Apophis' second visit will be a rendezvous or a collision, as its orbit will be bent by Earth's gravity during the 2029 flyby.
(Excerpt) Read more at dsc.discovery.com ...
Boomer rock ping.
Will Obama still be President then ?
2029? Right now we best be just concentrating on 2010.
Some people must get a thrill up their legs worrying about stuff that isn’t worth worrying about.
Wormwood?
Hopefully my vision will still be good enough to take a gander.
Best bet is maybe we can just get it to land on Mecca or Moscow. That would work :)
I'll be 83. Ha ha ha ha ha....
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
That’s exactly what I thought of.
Where’s my arrow?? I’ll knock that asteroid right outta the sky!
We’ll all be underwater by then, because of GlobalwarmingclimatechangehopeSUViraqisraeljewbushchenyhalburton...
Malia Obama Kennedy.
PING
If we get hit, it’s Bush’s fault. Bush and those damned SUVs.
Good guess.
83 year olds have even less to worry about, normally.
Can’t the apologizer-in-chief just tell it we are sorry for being in the way?
From Wikipedia:
“When first discovered, the object received the provisional designation 2004 MN4 (sometimes written 2004 MN4), and news and scientific articles about it referred to it by that name. When its orbit was sufficiently well calculated it received the permanent number 99942 (on June 24, 2005). Receiving a permanent number made it eligible for naming, and it received the name “Apophis” on July 19, 2005. Apophis is the Greek name of the Ancient Egyptian enemy of Ra: Apep, the Uncreator, a serpent that dwells in the eternal darkness of the Duat (underworld) and tries to swallow Ra during His nightly passage. Apep is held at bay by Set, the Ancient Egyptian god of Chaos.
Although the Greek name for the Egyptian god may be appropriate, Tholen and Tucker — two of the co-discovers of the asteroid — are reportedly fans of the TV series Stargate SG-1. The show’s main antagonist in the first several seasons was an alien named Apophis who took the name for the Egyptian god and sought to destroy Earth.”
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