back to article Oh, great. By peering into twilight, boffins find 'planet killer' asteroids in our system

Astronomers have spotted an asteroid of sufficient size and orbit to cause Earth-wide destruction – if it were to ever strike our planet. And that's a mighty big if. 2022 AP7 was discovered alongside two other large asteroids – 2021 LJ4 and 2021 PH27 – by a team of scientists looking for objects within the inner Solar System …

  1. Winkypop Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Things that go bump in the night

    Is it give way to the right, or give way to the left?

    1. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: Things that go bump in the night

      That depends on the hemisphere you inhabit, I would say. All constellations looked upside-down to me when I travelled down-under. Maybe it is simpler if Earth can claim right-of-weight: Small rocks give way to large rocks, especially those with passengers.

  2. LenG

    A cure to global warming?

    "If 2022 AP7 were to collide with Earth, it would be a mass extinction event as dust would be blown up into the Earth's atmosphere for years, blocking out the precious needed sunlight."

    So we're dead if it does and dead if it doesn't?

    1. RockBurner

      Re: A cure to global warming?

      We're all dead pretty soon (cosmically speaking) anyway, so why worry?

    2. Richard 12 Silver badge

      Re: A cure to global warming?

      In three million years you'll be dead

      1. Arthur the cat Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: A cure to global warming?

        In three million years you'll be dead

        And still there won't have been much take up of the metaverse.

        1. DJV Silver badge

          Re: A cure to global warming?

          But the undead Zuckerborg will still be promoting it to all and sundry.

  3. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Coat

    In the next million years?

    Time to select a hat, then, so I can take it off when the asteroid passes too close.

  4. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Alien

    Vogons

    Douglas Adams was right!

    1. Eclectic Man Silver badge
      Alien

      Re: Vogons

      Or maybe the Grebulons?

  5. Eclectic Man Silver badge

    Venus re-engineered?

    Were Venus to 'get lucky' and be hit by the asteroid, could it blow enough of the atmosphere away to remove the greenhouse effect and leave Venus itself (herself?) habitable (after a few thousand years to cool down)?

    Of course there would be a lot of debris, some of which might reach earth orbit, but I bet the astronomers and planetary scientists would be delighted to witness such an event.

    1. Killfalcon Silver badge

      Re: Venus re-engineered?

      I doubt it, though I'm not an expert.

      Venus is almost earth-sized, and the rocks in question are smaller than the dinosaur-killer, which didn't throw off that much of our atmosphere (some, yes, and there's probably bits of dinosaur-era rock that ended up on the moon, but not enough to massively change atmospheric density).

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. jdiebdhidbsusbvwbsidnsoskebid Silver badge

      Re: Venus re-engineered?

      I suspect any cosmic collision sufficient to blow off the atmosphere wouldn't leave much planet behind to live on. And even if it did there wouldn't be any atmosphere left to live in.

  6. ravenviz Silver badge

    “no dates that would have 2022 AP7 collide with Earth and it is highly unlikely it ever will…

    … unless someone crashes a space probe into it …

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