[Sticks]

News discovered on the Annanova site

Earth is going to be hit by a large Asteroid.

Asteroid could hit earth in 2880

Scientists have detected a huge asteroid which is on a collision course with Earth but won't arrive for another 878 years.

The asteroid, more than half a mile in diameter, is similar in size to the one thought to have plunged into the sea off Mexico 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs.

Jon Giorgini and Steve Ostro of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory warn the asteroid has a greater chance of hitting earth than any of the other cosmic rocks tracked to date.

They say the encounter will be 'extremely close' with a one in 300 risk of impact.

The warning follows data collected last year when the rock, codenamed Asteroid 1950DA, made its closest approach to earth since it was discovered 52 years ago.

The Times reports astronomers working for Nasa tracked it with the world's largest radar dish at Arecibo in Puerto Rico. They had hoped to prove a scientific point about the value of radar in astronomy but found the asteroid instead.

The results show the spherical rock swinging in and out of the inner solar system with its highly elliptical orbit bringing it ever closer to impact. The asteroid's path leads it directly across the earth's orbit on March 16, 2880.

The paper says the exact behaviour of the asteroid is impossible to predict at such close distances and long timescales. It could narrowly miss the earth, or be captured by its gravity, punch a hole in the atmosphere and crash to earth.

If such a rock landed it could potentially pierce the earth's crust, generate tidal waves and throw vast clouds of dust and debris into the air.

The research team, including scientists from Washington State University and the California Institute of Technology, have posted their results on the internet. A scientific paper is to be published this week.

Story filed: 10:41 Sunday 31st March 2002

I wonder when the panic buying will begin

This is a very worrying development, and the Government do not appear to be doing anything about it