Word: asteroidal
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...spectacular end to a 4.5-billion-year journey. Formed at the same time as the planets of our solar system, the extraterrestrial missile originally lay at the core of a small asteroid. Then, some time in its voyage through the silent vacuum of space, a chance collision with another asteroid shattered it, sending this fragment hurtling toward its meeting with Earth 300,000 years...
...imminent strike of an asteroid 100 feet in diameter, slamming into the atmosphere with enough force to generate the effects of a nuclear weapon? Well, just maybe...
...Spahr posted a few promising asteroid locations on the Minor Planet Center website, before heading to dinner with a friend. But while he enjoyed his “only-once-a-year” night on the town, the alarms began to sound worldwide. An amateur astronomer forecast that one of Spahr’s potentials was rapidly approaching the sky somewhere over the Northern Hemisphere. Based on the information available, a 25 percent chance of a collision within days was quickly confirmed...
...response, Spahr quickly approximated a window through which the asteroid would have to travel in order to remain a threat. However, the skies remained clear during that window, and Earth was safe for yet another...
Still, those efforts haven’t stopped Hollywood moguls from churning out asteroid-themed blockbusters. “I went and watched Deep Impact, but I didn’t watch Armageddon,” said Spahr. “For Armageddon, I helped them do a promo, and we tried to tell them that it was pretty dumb. A Texas-sized asteroid was going to hit in what, two weeks? That would be as bright as Jupiter in the sky. You would go outside and go, ‘Oh crap, an asteroid...