Large Asteroid Will Not Hit Earth in 2040

Don't mark your doomsday calendars: 2040 asteroid won't hit Earth

The Gemini telescope sits atop the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano, at sunrise. The Gemini North telescope has picked up signs that a giant asteroid won't be hitting Earth in 2040. Earlier analyses suggested it might be possible. (December 24, 2012) 

By Amina Khan

December 24, 2012, 2:46 p.m.

For those of you disappointed that the world didn’t end last week, there’s more bad news: The world probably won’t be ending in 2040, either – not from a certain giant asteroid, anyway.

Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii have found that the asteroid 2011 AG5 is no longer a major threat – it won’t be hitting Earth in February 2040, as had been earlier feared. That’s good to know, given that an asteroid that large – roughly 150 yards across – would have hit the Earth with several thousand times the combined energy of the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II.

More - Link >>> http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-end-of-world-mayan-asteroid-20121224,0,6049724.story?track=rss

Source: Los Angeles Times.

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