[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger. Saying it could wipe out Mecca or Tehran, or even Moscow might be too provocative for a US journalist; the bright side is, so much of the country put on a big grin when it's NYC. :^)

BTW, all, there are no space rocks with a number greater than ZERO on the Torino scale, last time I checked. Aphophis will miss in 2029 and 2036, unless something drastic happens to its orbit (for example, if it were to strike some little piece of space debris, an unlikely event), but the 2029 encounter will be a mere 18000 miles, good excuse for a tailgater!

At one time, when there was less data available, the 2029 encounter had a chance of moving the trajectory (the term used was "keyhole") enough to make the 2036 even closer, but now that more is known, the 2036 will actually miss by 30 million miles.

This is a quarter mile wide rock, which in case you didn't know would be enough, probably, to annihilate nearly all human life if it were to strike in the middle of a populated continental landmass, and depending on which continent, could end civilization. IOW, no one in the muslim world would notice a difference.

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[KC Burke]

Aphophis at the size of a mountain sounds like something we ought to begin work on yesterday for the 2029 pass. 1 in 250,000 or whatever is too damn large for me. I will be pretty old then but hopefully still on the “right side of the grass” as my dad used to say. I have ten grandchildren and they will all be young and enjoying life and I hope it stays that way.