Risk from 2029 asteroid now more remote
A bit of good news, for a change. Via PhysOrg.
An asteroid that triggered a scare last December after astronomers calculated that it ran a potential risk of smacking into Earth is less of a peril than thought, an expert said here Monday.
The rogue rock, 2004 MN4, measures 320 metres (1,000 feet) across, making it big enough to wipe out a large city if it ever collided with Earth.
Last December, there were a few nail-biting days when NASA calculated, from early optical observations, that the asteroid had a more than one-in-50 chance of hitting Earth on April 13, 2029.
In addition, astronomers could not rule out a risk that the rock could in fact hit Earth, its trajectory tweaked by terrestial gravity, when it made another swing around the Sun, this time in 2036.
But measurements using Doppler radar at the giant Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico have progressively fine-tuned the risk, which appears to be receding, said Jon Giorgina of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
posted by Fergie @ 9/05/2005 01:08:00 PM
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