Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Stealth Asteroid Misses Earth

Posted by timothy on from the they're-sneaky-like-that dept.

Paradoxish writes: "Gah. According to cnn.com an asteroid hiding in an astronomical blindspot nearly blindsided Earth. The scary part is that scientists didn't notice it until four days AFTER it passed by. Apparently, it would've been similiar to the Tunguska explosion. Scary." As long as they keep missing Earth, we're OK.

1 of 475 comments (clear)

  1. Torino Scale (used to classify collision threats) by volpone · · Score: 5, Informative
    If you're interested, check out nasa.gov's description of the Torino Scale , the method in which the scientific community classifies an object's likelihood of striking and damaging the Earth.

    The rating goes from zero (the object is certain to miss the Earth) to ten (the nasty asteroid thingy is definitely going to "cause a global climatic catastrophe"). Read it, it's very unsettling...

    Does anyone know what Torino rating this most recent near-miss was?