An asteroid has been discovered on a collision
course with the Earth -
and could crash into us in 2022.
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- Astronomers have been
monitoring the path of the giant
space rock since it was spotted on
January 28.
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- The asteroid, which has been named 2000 BF19, is thought
to be
about 1km in diameter.
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- Experts say if it hits Earth it would cause an explosion
that could wipe out a city.
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- Or it might cause a tidal wave that would devastate
low-lying
parts of the world.
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- The asteroid is now officially
listed as a "Potentially
Hazardous Object."
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- The astronomers'
discovery is a chilling echo of the
blockbuster movie Armageddon, in
which a massive asteroid is heading for
Earth.
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- In the film, disaster is
averted when a team of astronauts
led by Bruce Willis manage to blow
the asteroid in half before it hits.
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- The real asteroid was revealed
by astronomer Professor
Andrea Milani, of Pisa University, Italy. He
said: "Available observations
are not enough to allow us to
exclude a future impact. I rate this as scientifically
urgent."
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- Professor Milani appealed for observatories to keep track
of
the asteroid before it fades out of sight of the world's biggest
telescopes.
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- It is vital that the orbit be calculated accurately to
check if
it will hit the Earth.
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- The risk has been estimated by one expert as one in a
million - but that is enough for scientists to be taking it extremely
seriously.
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- Astronomers have been urging governments to invest cash
in the
search for asteroids that might threaten us.
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- At the moment only a tiny
number of scientists are involved
in the valuable research.
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- Last month the
British Government set up a task force
of Three Wise Men to assess the
risks of global catastrophe by a giant
asteroid strike.
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- In August 1998 a
mile-wide asteroid had a near-miss as
it passed within 450,000 miles of
Earth.
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- Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology
recently
found there are 700 large asteroids close enough to cause
devastation.
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- Each is over half a mile wide. A hit from a rock this
size
travelling at 15 miles per second would be the equivalent of 50,000
H-bombs.
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