[meteorite-list] Earth nearly hit by large asteroid??

From: rochette <rochette_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:01:34 2004
Message-ID: <v03007800b9389204f72f_at_[193.248.146.145]>

Dear list

I am a bit surprised by all this fuss in the media every few months about
how lucky we are escaping once again the big hit. As a scientist I can say
that the probability that an asteroid cruising nearer to earth than the
Moon actually hit the earth is 1/10000*; the public will laugh about these
threatening news long before the 10000th anoucement like the one we just
have...
As a hunter when my bullet hit the ground 100** meters away from the deer I
do not shout "Yeah, I almost got it", I try to disappear into the hole,
full of shame..

*: if you want a more precise figure: square of the ratio of earth radius
to moon-earth distance.
* equivalent size ratio with the deer being the Earth.


Pierre
Received on Fri 21 Jun 2002 02:13:49 PM PDT