Expert: Ed - 5/23/2006

Question
Hello Ed!   I m a new-yorker, and there are roomers that there is an object heading toward ocean that will cause major tsunami or earthquake to NYC. Do you know anything about it?   Thank you,   Allen  p.s. I m not a paranoiac.

Answer
Allen,

Well, yes, eventually there will be a large asteroid strike in the Atlantic, which will destroy lots of cities including New York.  HOWEVER, it's probably thousands of years in the future.  Maybe even hundreds of thousands of years.  That's a long time.

I often send this amazing link to people who ask this kind of question:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/asteroid_software_000110.html

Ooooohhhhh, wait a minute, I think I know what you're talking about.  Are you thinking of asteroid 1950 DA, which is predicted to come uncomfortably close on March 16, in the year 2880?  There is less than a one percent chance that it will hit us.  Also, that's almost 900 years from now!  By that time, it's quite possible that there will be people living on the asteroid, with some kind of future propulsion system which could re-direct it safely away from the Earth.

Here are some links about the topic:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0003575D-DC04-1ED3-8E1C809EC588EF21

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/1950da/

If you're looking for things to worry about, I recommend terrorists or the bird flu.  New York is very unlikely to be damaged by asteroids in our lifetime.

Keep Looking Up!
--Ed