Comet Nearly Hit Earth? Not So Fast 84
Phil Plait ("The Bad Astronomer") writes with a skeptical take on the recent report that a comet may have narrowly missed earth. According to the linked post from Plait, "When a comet breaks up, it spreads out. Even when intact, the material surrounding a comet can be tens or even hundreds of thousands of kilometers across! Claiming that a comet broke apart, yet managed to constrain its pieces to volume of space less than a few thousand kilometers across strains credulity. Mind you, Bonilla claimed to have seen these objects over the course of two days. That means they would’ve been stretched out along a path that was a million km long at least, yet so narrow that only one observatory on Earth saw them transit the Sun. That is highly unlikely. Worse, the very fact that no one else saw anything makes this claim even less tenable."
I want a Good Astronomer (Score:5, Funny)
Why would I trust the opinion of someone who calls himself "The Bad Astronomer". I want the opinion of a GOOD Astronomer!
It's like wine. How about some fresh wine. And bring me those finger sandwiches you talked me out of!
Re:That's what I said! (sort of) (Score:4, Funny)
"While it is not impossible that an extinction level event almost happened, I'd like to see a bit more evidence before panicking."
Why would anybody panic about something which didn't happen in the past? Little bit late for panicking now, wouldn't you say?