According to Guardian Unlimited from Great Britain, there is a giant asteroid hurtling toward earth that could crash right into us in just 31 years.
You can read the article here:
It's called Apophis. It's 390m wide. And it could hit Earth in 31 years time
I am not all that alarmed, mostly because 31 years is a long time from now. What I find compelling about this is the fact that we know about it. If you know anything about astronomy (which I know exceedingly little) you know that it is quite miraculous that we can even see something just 390 meters wide this far away and it is almost unbelievable that we can make a guess about where it might be going.
If you don't know much more astronomy or space in general, let me put it in perspective. We are not exactly sure how many planets are in our solar system. If you don't believe me, see Solar System Surprise: A New View of What's Out There at Space.com.
Space is really, really big and really hard to figure out, so I am quite impressed that someone has figured out that an asteroid might run into us in 31 years. But, I am still not worried about it.
Speaking of space, I am worried about this: According to an op-ed piece by Nicolas D. Kristof in Monday's New York Times, about one-fifth of Americans still think the Sun goes around the Earth. (See The Hubris of the Humanities) (This is posted on Times Select subscription service, but there is a copy of it posted here - though I make no warranties about what else in on that site) By the way, let's be clear, the Earth and the other planets do revolve around the Sun, we are pretty sure about that.
Enough about space, back to working on this week's sermon. I promise it won't be so "spacey."
peace,
will
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