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Introduction: Asteroid 2004 MN4 is heading this way. It is about 1,050 feet across, big enough to basically eliminate Texas.
NASA discovered this fairly large asteroid back in June of 2004. They were able to gather sparse data, but gave the asteroid a 1 in 60 chance of hitting Earth on Friday the 13th, April 2029.
So, on the traditionally most unlucky day of the year, we are all going to get very lucky.
The Science: Asteroid 2004 MN4 will not hit Earth. At least not on its current trajectory. Right now, we think we know it will pass earth at a distance of 18,600 miles. That may seem like a long way away, and I suppose it is, but consider this: we have satellites orbiting at 22,300 miles.
This means we will be able to see the asteroid pass our planet with the naked eye. Of course, you would have to be standing on the right side of the planet to see it and, as far as I know, we don't know which side it will be passing on at this time.
I know I am hoping to see it. These things don't happen often. We think they happen once in 1,000 years, so it would not be prudent for anyone to think, "I'll just catch the next one." This would be the only time in recorded history that this has happened. It will only look like a shooting star, but it will be the first asteroid we know of that we will be seen in the sky without visual aid.
However, some people think that this very asteroid will hit Earth in 2035 when it comes back around for round two. NASA says that talk is premature. We know, fairly precisely, how close the asteroid will come to Earth, but we certainly don't know exactly. The close it gets, the more our gravitational pull will affect the asteroid's path. We truly don't have any idea that it will come close to Earth at all in 2035. It is believed that in 2013, when the asteroid is only about 9 million miles away, we will be able to get radar ranging and know where it will be out to 2070.
I have to pause here for science. This is astounding to me. Not only can we use radar on something 9 million miles away, but that will allow us to know it's path in the solar system for the next 57 years. Thanks to movies like Armageddon, a lot of us worry about how we will defend ourselves from oncoming collisions from large objects. Considering we gave ourselves 25 years for this asteroid that won't even hit Earth, I am feeling pretty good about our chances of survival for me, my children, and probably their kids and grand-kids. We have become pretty smart on Earth, at least on this matter, and I would say it is something we should all take a little pride in!
Of course, we will have to not kill each other in a nuclear war for this to matter at all, but we can talk about that another time.
The Big Hit: We know Earth has been hit before. Craters are an easy indication. It has been hit many times, and it will be hit again. The extinction of the Dinosaurs is almost surely the work of an asteroid or comet hitting Earth, but did you know that isn't the largest thing to hit Earth? It isn't even close.
Now, the big one was never a threat to any living thing. It probably happened as the planet was forming, but the Earth was hit by something roughly the size of Mars. How do we know, or at least think we know this? We have evidence spinning around us, in the form of the moon.
Yes, the moon was once a part of Earth. We know about how the planets were formed, and this is explained further in my Origin of the Universe post, so we are able to hypothesize that after the collision happened, the heavier, iron elements were pulled back into the formation of Earth, while the lighter stuff became the moon by creating an object far different from Earth's composition.
One to Watch: Toutatis, a 2.9 x 1.5 x 1.2 mile asteroid that has a very similar plane to Earth's orbit. It may be headed for us one day, but we are safe from it for the moment. I just mention it here in case you want to do a little more research.
What Did We Do?
God: Is this a message from God? A warning, something to keep us on our toes?
Could be. We only discovered this asteroid in 2004. Where was it before then? The asteroid belt? Maybe, but then what sent it on it's way to come so close to Earth?
Maybe it is God's doing. Maybe there is a message to this. The only problem is, if you're like me, you have no idea what that message is.
Sure, we should end war, be good to each other, eliminate hunger, and eliminate poverty. I'm all for it, but I don't know what an asteroid would do to change that. The only thing it might force some to do, is re-visit the Bible a little more often.
The Bible: The book of Revelations chapter 8 is some pretty heavy stuff. It isn't exactly a fun read, but it is interesting because I imagine that, when it was written, they had no idea that an asteroid was likely responsible for wiping out life on Earth 65 million years ago. For me, this is a major accomplishment and a very wise warning that we are susceptible to death from above. It seems unlikely that God is firing at us, but who know for sure? Things hit Earth, that is about as much as we really know.
So, without further ado, the eighth chapter in the book of Revelation:
"1 Then, when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, and he held a gold bowl for burning incense. He was given a large amount of incense, in order to offer it on behalf of the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense offered for the prayers of the saints rose up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the incense container and filled it with fire from the altar. He threw it down to the earth, and there were thunder, voices, lightning, and an earthquake.
6 Then the seven angels who held the seven trumpets got ready to blow them. 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood appeared, and was thrown down to the earth. A third of the earth was burned up. A third of the trees were burned up. All the green grass was burned up. 8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain burning with fire was thrown down into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, burning like a torch, fell from heaven. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. 11 The star’s name is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it became so bitter. 12 Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars so that a third of them became dark. The day lost a third of its light, and the night lost a third of its light too.
13 Then I looked and I heard an eagle flying high overhead. It said with a loud voice, “Horror, horror, oh! The horror for those who live on earth because of the blasts of the remaining trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!" "
It doesn't matter to me if you believe the story literally or figuratively, or not at all. It is talking about a very real possibility of massive destruction from space. I can't help but wonder how anyone back then could know this was possible. Maybe a small meteor struck their lands, or maybe it was simply the fear of the sky. Either way, I'm impressed they were able to see the possibility, or maybe God really did give someone a heads up.
Little Known Use for Turtle
It was thought at one time that a 200 ft wide asteroid would hit Earth in February of 2013. That has since been disproved, but there were plans on how to defend against it. We were either going to shoot it with big guns, or paint it. Yes, painting it would be a sort of sun-screen, cooling the asteroid, changing the spin, and altering its course. Strange? Yes, but the point is we have people who come up with all kinds of stuff to protect us.
Of course, I doubt we could protect against a missile from God.
If we, as a society, were to believe that everything was as it is written in the Bible, what would we do? When it comes to an issue like this, if an asteroid was heading our way from God and going to destroy the Earth, we would give up. "Nothing we can do, it's what God wants," we would say. I believe that is one of the biggest conflicts between the Bible and reality.
Reality is, we have brains. I believe God gave us brains but, regardless, we have them. We have the power to do a lot, including protecting ourselves from threats, whether they come from God or elsewhere. So why? Why, why, why, why, why would we give in? If God made us, and these are tests, they aren't tests to see us give up, but to pull together and survive.
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