Asteroid could hit Mars

A recently discovered asteroid, named 2007 WD5, could hit Mars on January 30, 2008 at around 10:55 UT. There is a small probability of collision with the red planet, about 1 in 75.

The asteroid passed close to the Earth on November 1, before it was discovered on November 20, 2007. The 2007 WD5 is estimated to be about 50 meters across.

If the collision occurs, the asteroid would hit Mars with a velocity of about 13.5 km/s ( 48,000 km/h approximately ), and releases an energy of about 3 MT of TNT.


Read in NASA


JimF
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Astronomer detects atmosphere of extra-solar planet

Astronomer detects atmosphere of extra-solar planet from PhysOrg.com

University of Texas at Austin astronomer and Hubble Fellow Seth Redfield has used the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at McDonald Observatory to make the first ground-based detection of the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system.

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