Asteroid Impact in 2036?

News is coming out about an asteroid named Apophis (after the Egyptian demon of evil and destruction), a 390 meter wide asteroid that computer simulations suggest could strike the Earth in 2036.

The damage would be inconceivable, but one has to wonder if it would be a global species killer. A 390m asteroid is only about three football fields wide. That's huge and the destruction would be immense on a sub-continental basis with global impacts, but its manageable size would suggest that options might exist to deflect it at some point.

Tracking these asteroids is quite a challenge and estimating their trajectory made all the more difficult based upon various gravitational tugs. Until recently downgraded, Apophis had been rated the most likely major strike identified since such projections began to be developed with a one in 37 chance. Now, we are talking about chances of one in thousands or tens of thousands, but still something to watch and wonder about.

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