All twaddle!! Well done the media (yet again).
http://cosmos4u.blogspot.com/2008/04/apophis-risk-not-increased-science-fair.html
Jay Tate
The Spaceguard Centre
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 6:46 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Astroid Musical Chairs
Hi Listees,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080415/sc_afp/spaceastronomygermany_080415214429
This is a refreshing tale of armorget'um, astroids and satlites - about
hope and the creativity of young minds!
[Even Jason might be over the hill ... is there a 9-year old on the list
who can tell the boffins at Yahoo News how to spell "Astroid" - or
congratulate the kid for already writing bilingual scientific papers ;)
("Astroid" spelling at end of article as of 17:30 UT).]
German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: paper Tue Apr 15,
5:44 PM ET
BERLIN (AFP) - A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected NASA's estimates
on the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper
reported Tuesday, after spotting the boffins had miscalculated.
Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics
in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 chance that the
Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer Neuerster
Nachrichten reported.
NASA had previously estimated the chances at only 1 in 45,000 but told its
sister organisation, the European Space Agency (ESA), that the young
whizzkid had got it right.
The schoolboy took into consideration the risk of Apophis running into one
or more of the 40,000 satellites orbiting Earth during its path close to
the planet on April 13 2029.
Those satellites travel at 3.07 kilometres a second (1.9 miles), at up to
35,880 kilometres above earth -- and the Apophis asteroid will pass by
earth at a distance of 32,500 kilometres.
If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, that will change its
trajectory making it hit earth on its next orbit in 2036.
Both NASA and Marquardt agree that if the asteroid does collide with
earth, it will create a ball of iron and iridium 320 metres (1049 feet)
wide and weighing 200 billion tonnes, which will crash into the Atlantic
Ocean.
The shockwaves from that would create huge tsunami waves, destroying both
coastlines and inland areas, whilst creating a thick cloud of dust that
would darken the skies indefinitely.
The 13-year old made his discovery as part of a regional science
competition for which he submitted a project entitled: "Apophis -- The
Killer Astroid."
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