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1994-03-08
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BEWARE SWIFT-TUTTLE.
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Comet Swift-Tuttle, which produces Earth's spectacular Perseid shower
every August, has been spotted for the first time since 1862, said
American astronomers on 29 September. Brian Marsden, director of the
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, predicted in 1973 that the
comet might show up late this year if it failed to appear between 1979
and 1983. The comet will be visible to the naked eye in December.
Swift-Tuttle is due to make its next close approach in about 2126,
when for the first time, it will come close enough to hit us. The odds
on this happening have been quoted as one in four hundred. The
explosion caused by impact with the six mile wide comet travelling at
around 130,000 mph would be about 1,000 million times greater than the
Hiroshima bomb. All the buildings in the world would fall down and
everyone would be killed, except perhaps a few living in caves. A huge
dust cloud would produce a temporary ice age. In short, much the same
scenario as the alleged meteoric collision 65 millions years ago, when
the dinosaurs were wiped out!!
(COSMIC)