Asteroid that just buzzed Earth may not miss on return visit

C-Net ^ | October 12, 2017 2:34 PM PDT | by Eric Mack

[stars & stripes forever]

http://patburt.com/

[Vendome]

It returns in 2050?

I haven’t decided if I’ll even be here at that time...

[Lurkinanloomin]

Something like this will cause the next mass extinction, not CO2.

[Robert A Cook PE]

If it passes every 5 years, why are they reporting analysis as if it passes every fifty years? Typo?

[Little Pig]

2050 is the next time it’ll come really close, and ditto for 2079. All the other times e.g. 2022, 2027 etc it will be further away as it passes Earth.

[Reno89519]

If the target is Mecca, all cheers.

[ClearCase_guy]

Fortunately, I’m going to be out of town that day.

[rdl6989]

2079? I’ll be sure to wait up for that.

[rktman]

☄💥CONgress need to pass a law to save us. 👹

[ProtectOurFreedom]

It is hard to fathom that the orbital period of earth and this asteroid are so identical that it would just happen to pass us that close again.

OT — The author writes “That’s nearly twice as close...”

Aaaaggghhh!!! Something can be twice or thrice as large as something, but NOT smaller or less than that something.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

It’s between 30 and 60 feet across. Slightly larger than the one that made Barringer Crater in AZ but probably much less dense, therefore less massive. If it made it to the ground, which it probably wouldn’t, it would probably cause a crater between half a mile and a mile in diameter. What the people who study impact effects call a City Killer.

[fantail 1952]

I’d settle for San Francisco!

[Rastus]

Yo, asteroid! If you take a shot at the earth, you best not miss! Now that you’ve pissed us off, we’re going to destroy you with the power of Diane Warren.

[Yulee]

If it only took 5 years to come back at us, since its initial discovery in 2012, qhy 43 years this time?

Or did we see it the first time when it started its route around the sun and encountered it this time on its sweep back in the other direction?

[Nifster]

Oh noes 😱😱😱😱

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

According to NASA, objects smaller than 30 meters diameter are unlikely to cause substantial damage, and will likely disintegrate in the upper atmosphere.

This asteroid is about 15 meters diameter.

[Noob1999]

Whew, we don’t need to worry about globull warming any more!

[Yo-Yo]

I haven’t decided if I’ll even be here at that time...

I think someone else may have a say in it, too...

[Red Badger]

Looks like to me they could just hit it with a bottle rocket or something, pushing it to a new orbit..........