Objects hitting Earth
< The Post-Apocalypse
< mordnilap
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
Artist's impression of a major impact event.
By the end of 2003, astronomers had discovered about 400 asteroids whose orbits crossed the Earth's. These are prime candidates for eventual impacts with the Earth in the distant future.
David Morrison of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Center, replies:
Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery.