AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREWhicker: Clemson demonstrates that it’s tough to knock out the champThe asteroid, named 2007 WD5, is about the size of one that exploded over Siberia in the Tunguska event of 1908. The force of that explosion, the equivalent of 10 million to 20 million tons of TNT, turned hundreds of square miles of forest into a flattened expanse of scorched logs. An impact from 2007 WD5 would likely be smaller, Chesley said, about as much as 3 million tons of TNT. Chesley and others on the Near Earth Object team routinely scan the skies for asteroids approaching our planet. 2007 WD5 passed 4.3 million miles away on Nov. 1 before being spotted three weeks later through a telescope in Arizona. During a routine check to see if it would pass Earth again in the next 100 years, Chesley noticed the asteroid could be on track to hit Mars. “As soon as I saw that this was going to have a very close approach to Mars and might even hit, I immediately started calling the other observatories,” he said. LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE – Mars could be starting 2008 off with a bang, literally. An asteroid the length of an Olympic-size swimming pool is racing toward the planet at 28,000 mph. JPL astronomers give it a 1-in-75 chance of hitting Mars on Jan. 30. “It would be kind of exciting to have this thing actually hit – it would be an incredible scientific bonanza,” said Steve Chesley, a member of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Near Earth Object office at JPL in Pasadena. “They send Mars rovers out there with little shovels to dig little tiny holes – this thing would blast a hole half-a-mile wide,” he said. More sightings of the faint object were necessary to fine-tune its path. Finally, after being delayed by inclement weather and snowbound observatories, Chesley was able to get a fifth peek at the rocky interplanetary traveler Tuesday, confirming its close approach. “Asteroids have a one-in-a-million chance of hitting the Earth all the time, but seeing an asteroid that has a 1-in-75 chance is quite remarkable,” he said. Still, there isn’t enough data to know whether 2007 WD5 will smash into Mars, or pass more than 400,000 miles away from the planet. “It’s important to emphasize that it’s pretty near 99 percent that it’s going to miss,” Chesley said. With the asteroid rushing farther and farther from Earth and getting obscured by the coming full moon, astronomers are unlikely to learn more about its future until after New Year’s Eve. Even then, Chesley said, only the planet’s biggest telescopes such as the brawny Keck Observatory in Hawaii will be able to spot the rocky projectile. Until then, Mars’ fate remains in the air. elise.kleeman@sgvn.com (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4451160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set!
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