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A short while ago I published a post about asteroids and the danger they present to our world. In Tunguska, Siberia early in the last century an object, possibly a comet but may have been an asteroid exploded near to the ground and flattened trees for miles around and causing an enormous ‘dent’ in the ground. It is believed that because the event happened in a remote area few, if any people were killed. The Earth has encountered many of these objects during its history and even today objects fall from the sky in diverse places around the globe. Should a large object fall anywhere near a densely populated area such as a town or city it would be a major disaster with many casualties. Most objects that fall prove to be relatively small and burn up in the atmosphere long before they can cause problems on the surface. However once in a while we do get visits from quite large objects, asteroids, which approach quite near in astronomical terms, as close as twice the distance to the Moon. In February next year there will be a close approach of one such object large enough to wipe out most of a city like London and according to the latest reports will pass by as close as only around 24,000 Km, that is closer than some of our artificial satellites! That is very close indeed! I only hope the astronomers have got their figures right and that indeed it will only be a near miss. Watch this space, better still watch outer space for there is where the threat lies.
Shirley Anne
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