Komeet botst net niet tegen de aarde

By Richard Stenger
CNN Sci-Tech

(CNN) -- An asteroid that could pulverize a country zipped close by the Earth on Monday, only weeks after astronomers first noticed the big space boulder heading in our direction.
The Near Earth Object brightened enough for even simple telescopes to spot just before it raced past our planet on Monday, only two times the distance of the moon, according to spaceweather.com, a NASA-affiliated Web site.
The rage might seem like enough to breath easy, about 600,000 km (375,000 miles), but many scientists classify it as a relatively close call.
The asteroid, officially known as 2001 YB5, measures between 300 and 400 meters (1,000 to 1,300 feet) in width.
If such a rock were to smash into the planet, it would unleash the same amount of energy as many nuclear bombs, astronomers estimate.
"The impact would be quite tremendous.
It could essentially wipe out a medium-sized country," said Benny Peiser of the Royal Astronomical Society in Great Britain.
"The environmental consequences would be regional but the social and economic consequences would be global."
Close encounters with giant space rocks are not uncommon.
Asteroids comparable to 2001 YB5 could strike the Earth as frequently as once every 5,000 years, Peiser said.
The space rock 2001 YB5, identified by the arrow, could have wiped out France, according to a scientist in Britain.
In much rarer instances, boulders one kilometer or greater in size have smacked into the planet and snuffed out most life forms, much like the six-mile (10-km) long monster thought to have forced dinosaurs to exit stage left about 65 million years ago, according to scientists.
In the year 2027, an asteroid between one kilometer and mile in length is expected pass even closer than 2001 YB5. Having pinpointed its orbital path, scientists dismissed any potential of danger.
But later on, either asteroid could pose risks to the planet, along with countless rocks lurking in the shadows that have yet to be identified, astronomers warn.
What particularly troubles Peiser is that scientists only first spotted 2001 YB5 in early December.
What if it had been heading on a collision course?
"That's not enough time for any initiatives for deflection.
If we had 20 or 30 years' time, then we could develop a technology to deflect an object.
With our current lacked of preparedness, we are helpless," he said.

en de samenvatting:

Dit stukje tekst gaat over een gebeurtenis is de ruimte die afgespeeld heeft op 7 Januari.
Astrologen kwamen er achter dat de komeet op de aarde afkwam.
Met een breedte van 300 meters.
Als die zou inslaan zou hij frankrijk weggevaagd hebben.
En zou de kracht hebben van meedere atoombommen.
De komeet heet 2001 YB5 en zo'n komeet kan elke 5000 jaar inslaan.
In bijzondere gevallen zouden er ook komeeten van met een doorsnede van 10 km in kunnen slaan.
Zo'n komeet zou ook het einde van de dinosaursen moeten zijn geweest.
Maar als er nu zo een inslaan zouden we niks kunnen doen omdat we nog niet zo ver zijn met onze technologie.
Maar over 20 tot 30 jaar zouden we misschien in staat kunnen zijn om de komeet weg te kaatsen.
Maar er zouden dus ook nog andere kometen in de schaduw van de komeet hebben kunnen zitten dus nog veel schade hadden kunnen aanrichten.
Maar het ergste was dat de astrologen pas in begin december hadden ontdekt.
Wat als ie nou op een koerslag met de aarde?
Dan hadden we helemaal geen tijd meer gehad om iets te bedenken.