Via the Corner, NASA has responded to the unusual number (or unusually high news coverage?) of asteroids passing astronomically close to Earth - or Near Earth Objects - by formalizing a system of analysis, prognosis and notification. Now, before you begin worrying about a cataclysmic descent turning, say, Asia into a great, earthen amphitheater, keep in mind that a large meteorite impact has about as much chance occurring as does every dormant volcano simultaneously awakening while every tectonic fissure suddenly breaks into the Frug. And before you shake your fist at the asteroid belt, remember that protoplanets saved the Rebel Alliance. (The Falcon's odds, you should note, were only 3,720 to 1.)
Coincidentally enough, as I gazed up at the starry sky during my walk last night, a meteor skipped across the Van Allen radiation belt. I hadn't heard of any showers - what are the chances of such a sight in a single glance? Majestic.
