It returns in 2050?
I haven’t decided if I’ll even be here at that time...
Something like this will cause the next mass extinction, not CO2.
If it passes every 5 years, why are they reporting analysis as if it passes every fifty years? Typo?
If the target is Mecca, all cheers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Whew, we don’t need to worry about globull warming any more!
Wouldn’t it be nice if it would suck some of the liberals off of this planet during its 2050 and 2079 flybys.
Ever wonder how many of these rocks have impacted the ocean in the past where they’d almost certainly create a tidal wave, but not much dust and debris that could cause a loss of a summer or two? After all, our planet is 70% water surface.
2050 ? I’ll mark my calendar.
Actually I don’t even buy green bananas anymore.
The next gazillion dollar global challenge will be to destroy Asteroid 2012 TC4.
Even in the morning daylight it was dramatic. It looked closer than a jet and left a wider trail. About 1000 times bigger than a shooting star and I could actually make out a ball shape.
At the time I had no idea what it was and actually thought I would see an explosion in the distance at any second after it passed because it looked like it was going to hit earth.
I can't believe this didn't get more attention so that people could know when and where to watch the sky!
I'm so thrilled to have seen it but my 12 year old son who was with me and is a big astronomy buff missed it entirely because a tree was blocking his view.
He is pretty bummed.