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Re: (meteorobs) Internet Message
>I suppose they are not needed. But then, I thought you might like to
>know that an asteroid is headed right for earth this very moment. I
>can prove it if you don't believe me!
>
>Jonathan
Please prove it! I have subscribed to the IAU Circulars for years and am
good friends with Brian Marsden and Dan Green, who are the people at the
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory who produce the Circulars and produce
the majority of the early orbits of all comets and asteroids. You should
know these two people since they are the ones comet discoveries should be
reported to immediately for official confirmation!
Anyway, anything interesting gets Brian's personal attention. Brian has
probably done more to revolutionize orbital mechanics in the 20th century
than any other person. Extensive analysis of all near-Earth asteroids have
revealed no predictable collisions in the near future (either several
thousand or several million years, I can't remember which off hand). Since
the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is the clearing house for all
comet and asteroid discoveries (once again, you should know this since you
keep discovering "comets" and announcing them on your web site), it is
extremely unlikely that an asteroid would have been found heading towards
Earth that they didn't know about.
Jonathan, did you also believe the people in the Spring of 1996 who said
astronomers were lying and that comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) was going to
hit Earth? Did you also believe the people last November who said
astronomers were lying and that "proof" existed that a spaceship was
following comet Hale-Bopp? Did you also believe the people who said the
world was going to end when Hale-Bopp reached perihelion on April 1?
A word of warning for the young Jonathan Wojack. There is no place in
astronomy or any other science for those prone to gullibility!
Gary W. Kronk