- Comment
- From Qill
- qill@toadwater.com
- 7-18-4
-
- That article is from last year.
- The potential of an Earth impact for that asteroid was
ruled out last September.
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- http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news138.html
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- LONDON, England (Reuters)
-- A giant asteroid is heading for Earth and could hit in 2014, U.S. astronomers
have warned British space monitors.
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- But for those fearing Armageddon, don't be alarmed --
the chances of a catastrophic collision are just one in 909,000.
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- Asteroid "2003 QQ47" will be closely monitored
over the next two months. Its potential strike date is March 21, 2014,
but astronomers say that any risk of impact is likely to decrease as further
data is gathered.
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- On impact, it could have the effect of 20 million Hiroshima
atomic bombs, a spokesman for the British government's Near Earth Object
Information Centre told BBC radio.
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- The Centre issued the warning about the asteroid after
the giant rock was first observed in New Mexico by the Lincoln Near Earth
Asteroid Research Program.
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- "The Near Earth Object will be observable from Earth
for the next two months and astronomers will continue to track it over
this period," said Dr Alan Fitzsimmons, one of the expert team advising
the Centre.
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- Asteroids such as 2003 QQ47 are chunks of rock left over
from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. Most are
kept at a safe distance from the Earth in the asteroid belt between Mars
and Jupiter.
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- But the gravitational influence of giant planets such
as Jupiter can nudge asteroids out of these safe orbits and send them plunging
towards Earth.
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- Copyright 2003 <>Reuters. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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