I remember reading about this in 2005 because at one point, the space nerds that year were quite excited about a possible meteor impact with Earth in 2029. Then new images brought a sigh of relief. Cancel that emergency, but…
In 2013, they said, another window would open to determine the likelihood that this same downtown-Floyd sized chunk of rock would threaten us again in 2036.
Well, today is that day, by the end of which you can decide whether or not to squirrel away a half million dollars for Junior’s college education. Or not. And if you can wait until 2020, the Russians are planning to land a tracking beacon on the space boulder, so you can refine your charitable donations accordingly, or give up the misguided notion of deferred gratification. Eat dessert first!
Ominously, the meteor has been named Apophis. This serpentine character has a long and shady past. He/she is basically the enemy of light and order, according to the ancient Egyptians. And should it impact the planet, both light and order would take it on the chin–to the tune of 100k Hiroshimas.
I just thought you should know. Me, I plan to be watching this from a safe distance that year.
Bonus Blathering: Did you know that there is a meteor crater (almost five miles across and mostly hidden under vegetation) near Wetumpka, Alabama? (Did you even know there was a Wetumpka, AL?)
Time frame seems to be late Cretaceous, about 85 million years ago. This would have been a foreshadowing of the “Big One” at 65mya, that shows up at the “Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary” beyond which most dinosaurs bowed out, yeilding to hairier sorts to give world dominion a try. Roaches and rodents will be next up. I wish them well.
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Your last sentence really gave me a good chuckle. The whole piece was so much fun. Thanks for the wit!