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Missing Potential Earth-Busting Asteroid Found

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-a-froo dept.

Billosaur writes "A potentially disastrous 40-year-old mystery has been solved: Where is asteroid 6344 P-L? Back in 1960, asteroid 6344 P-L was identified and classified as a 'Potentially Hazardous Asteroid,' meaning that its orbit brings it perilously close to Earth's orbit (on the cosmic scale). Unfortunately, it then disappeared, or more precisely, was lost from view. Flash forward to 2007 and scientists believe that 6344 P-L has been rediscovered as 2007 RR9. Further, they are not sure it is an actual asteroid, but actually a comet fragment, which won't hit the Earth anytime soon but bears watching."

9 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. That Close! by treyTTU · · Score: 5, Funny

    Close in astronomic scale and we just "lost" it for a while, like, perhaps we took our eye off the ball?

    1. Re:That Close! by bigpat · · Score: 4, Funny

      like, perhaps we took our eye off the ball? If by "eye" you mean telescope and by "ball" you mean big chunk of rock and ice in space that could smack into the earth someday and kill everyone, then yes, like that.
  2. comet fragment by edxwelch · · Score: 5, Funny

    > Further, they are not sure it is an actual asteroid, but actually a comet fragment

    I don't know about you, but I would perfer to go extinict by asteroid rather than a puny comet fragement

  3. The unofficial name by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 4, Funny

    for the asteroid/comet fragment is 'Waldo'.

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  4. I'm getting tired of this... by R2.0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can't we just get whacked by a planetkiller and be done with it? Think of the benefits:

    Global warming made irrelevant.

    Overpopulation? Not anymore.

    Think of it as God (or the FSM) saying "Aww, fuck it" and hitting the reset button.

    --
    "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
    1. Re:I'm getting tired of this... by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Funny

      Can it wait just a little bit longer? I swear I'm just about to get mod points.

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  5. Re:Good by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did you leave them on a comet fragment?

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  6. Asteroid collisions are like hard disks crashes by Stormwatch · · Score: 4, Funny

    Asteroid collisions are like hard disks crashes. May it happen? Yes, in theory. But the chance that it will actually happen is extremely low. So it is not something to be so worried abo#`%${%&+'$`%& NO CARRIER

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    Circumcision is child abuse.
  7. Re:do none of you watch movies? by HarvardAce · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've been observing it since they found it, and I just did some quick calculations using Excel, and I can confirm that it IS going to hit Earth. You are probably using Excel 2003 or earlier. The astronomers are using Excel 2007.
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