Posted on 09/02/2003 6:39:19 AM PDT by bedolido
Scientists monitoring an asteroid have warned it could collide with Earth in just over a decade.
The newly discovered asteroid, known as 2003 QQ47, is around two-thirds of a mile wide and has been classified as "an event meriting careful monitoring" by astronomers.
It is around one tenth fo the size of the meteor that is thought to have wiped out dinosaurs on Earth 65 million years ago.
In the event of it hitting the Earth, the rock would have the force of 350,000 mega tonnes - around eight million times more powerful than the bomb dropped at Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War.
On impact it would be travelling at 75,000 miles a hour.
Experts say the giant rock, which was first spotted by Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research Program (Linear) in New Mexico, could impact on Earth on March 21, 2014.
But they say the probability of the asteroid hitting Earth is just one in 909,000 and the risk of impact is likely to decrease as they collect more information.
With a mass of around 2,600 million tons, it has been given a "Torino hazard rating" of one. Scientists said it is likely to drop down the Torino hazard scale as more observations are made.
Its orbit calculations are currently based on just 51 observations during a seven-day period.
Dr Alan Fitzsimmons of Queen's University, Belfast, one of the expert team advising the UK Near Earth Objects Information Centre, based in Leicester, said: "The NEO will be observable from Earth for the next two months, and astronomers will continue to track it over this period."
He added that there is no cause for concern over the asteroid.
Asteroids such as 2003 QQ47 are chunks of rock left over from the formation of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago.
Most are kept at a safe distance from Earth in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
But the gravitational influence of giant planets such as Jupiter can nudge asteroids out of these safe orbits and send them plunging into the Earth's neighbourhood.
Last Updated: 14:07 UK, Tuesday September 02, 2003
You never heard of Chicxulub, have you.
Zuit!!
I had to wait seven years for that answer?
Bookmark
LOL - considering this is the rough equivalent of debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, howz-about you reply in 2013 to tell me how much weight a person's spirit is actually able to carry.
Based upon how old the post is to which you’re responding are you sure you shouldn’t be asking me if I voted for Carter instead of Obama? But hey - I’ll take a bite on troll bait/sarcasm even if it is 2 years after the fact.
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