November 2nd possible impact

[Helio]

There are many websites reporting that there is a chance an asteroid will impact Earth the day before the election.

But one might erroneously think that a chance would not be the actual probability which is 244 to 1 that it won't impact our atmosphere. This is the current probability from JPL's Sentry website.

It's also too small (refrigerator size) to do damage, apparently, but if it beats the odds, then it might make for some interesting comments for the omen lovers out there.

 

[COLGeek]

Agreed. People will ignore real science to absolutely freak out over something like this. The "fun" never stops!

 

[Helio]

Yep. The better story is that astronomers can see such small objects a couple weeks before we encounter them.

 

[serhiy1635]

There are many websites reporting that there is a chance an asteroid will impact Earth the day before the election.

But one might erroneously think that a chance would not be the actual probability which is 244 to 1 that it won't impact our atmosphere. This is the current probability from JPL's Sentry website.

It's also too small (refrigerator size) to do damage, apparently, but if it beats the odds, then it might make for some interesting comments for the omen lovers out there.

First of all I wanna say that such kind of information might be fake. As far as you know fake news are spreading faster than the real one. Second of all if it`s piece of information is a real one, so I don`t consider that we should worry about that stuff. You have mentioned that it is refrigerator size so it means it is nod dangerous for Earth. It will burn down in the atmosphere.

 

[Helio]

First of all I wanna say that such kind of information might be fake.

Well, there is a lot of fake news out there but such news often is presented by intent, or it is just incompetent reporting. Both are wrong if dishonest.

In this case, we have Neil Tyson presenting it -- his clout is worth respecting -- and he does state both the remote odds and the size make this of little real concern. But the fact it is the day before the election is one of those coincidences that bloggers and media won't often ignore.

You have mentioned that it is refrigerator size so it means it is nod dangerous for Earth. It will burn down in the atmosphere.

I had just checked with JPL's Sentry and the odds are still the same: 1 in 244 chance it will enter our atmosphere, and if it does, as you note, it will burn-up in our atmosphere, though, IIRC, it may be large enough to leave a small meteorite somewhere, likely in an ocean, perhaps.