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April 13, 2009 -- Exactly 20 years from today, an asteroid about the size of a 25-story building will come closer to Earth than the networks of communications satellites orbiting the planet.

The chance of an impact are extremely remote -- only about 1 in 45,000 -- but the asteroid, named Apophis, will be back. Analysis of the asteroid's orbit show it will return to Earth seven years later.


Astronomers don't yet know if Apophis' second visit will be a rendezvous or a collision, as its orbit will be bent by Earth's gravity during the 2029 flyby.

"It can't even be said for certain what side of the sun (the asteroid) will be on in," said Jon Giorgini, a senior analyst with the Solar System Dynamics group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/04/13/asteroid-earth.html

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ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

    Tell you what you need to do to get the proper perspective on this stuff, Mike.  Depending on the phase and your local weather, either walk outside and have a look at the moon, or Google up a nice image.  See those craters (the differently colored round spots)?  These things happen to Earth, too, we just have an eco-system that wears away the scars.  It's a perfectly fair guess though, that we have been hit just as often, per square mile of surface, as the moon has.  If you really want the big picture, the whole fucking moon is believed to be the remnants of something really huge that hit our planet some billions of years ago.

   The sky does fall, Mike.  The ground beneath our feet sometimes shakes, and rips apart.  The seas rise up and destroy everything within miles of the coast.  Ice, a mile thick comes down from the poles and eradicates everything in its path.  Holes open up, and fire and death is blasted into the sky.  Massive hurricanes hit the areas of the east coast that have massive populations.  Not often, thank God, but these things do happen, and some folks find the speculation interesting.  It gives us something that reminds us of our our actual place in the cosmos.  Others get emotionally invested in the organized loitering called "baseball."  Tastes vary.

   Don't assume that those who find entertainment in these topics are all a bunch of survivalist nutcases, waiting for the apocalypse. 

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ORIGINAL: Crush

20 years?  Great, just great....I think I *might* finally be able to retire about then (if my 401k recovers) and BAM,   yeesh.

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ORIGINAL: Louve00

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ORIGINAL: Crush

20 years?  Great, just great....I think I *might* finally be able to retire about then (if my 401k recovers) and BAM,   yeesh.

LOL...We'd be in the same boat!

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ORIGINAL: Crush

Can I pick the asteroid's impact point, please, please?