It takes more data to determine an accurate actual orbit. Torino scale 1 is worrisome for such a large object. More observations will refine the orbit and will very likely result in the risk being reduced.

One could only hope.
R&K

There have been many, many "1's" and every single one has been removed by monitoring. One has actually reached a "4" and then been reassigned to a "0" or a "1" depending on which orbit guy you talk to.

The complete description is "A routine discovery in which a pass near Earth is predicted that poses no unusual level of danger. Current calculations show the chance of collision is extremely unlikely with no cause for public attention or public concern. New telescopic observations very likely will lead to re-assignment to Level 0."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torino_Scale

I can't remember the number of times a Russian observatory has predicted doom. Look back to the press around the Chelyabinsk meteor in the first 24 hours. Kinda Fox News level hysteria.

the Fox screen is for real??? Didn't know about this when it happened. For crying out loud, Fox has no shame and no clue!

it is almost believable!

Thanks for the info!

1300 ft wide is pretty damn big for something moving at 20,000 mph, but the one that got the dinosaurs was around 6 MILES wide, or roughly 20X the size of this one.

At that size, and with 19 years of advance notice, it wouldn't be all that difficult to divert the rock out of a collision course with modern technology.

Whether it is an iron (or some other metal based object) or made mostly of ice particles.

I know scientists have recently retrieved particles from core samples but I didn't hear the results of any testing.

... who are in the throes of rapture at this news.

...or see after the fact.

It's the building sized, super-fast and near invisible objects, from outside the solar system that we have to worry about.

The more fossil fuels we burn, the more hostile this earth becomes to our civilization.

It's looking like a pretty sure bet that we will keep burning fossil fuels at high rates until our civilization collapses.

In 2032 this asteroid hitting the earth might not even be the worst news of the year.

Too many gerbils in an aquarium in the sun, and nature will take its course.

will surely become inevitable:

1. Produce/Consume less and more efficiently;
2. Manage population levels down, over time, through such liberal methods as recognising women's right to choose;
3. Redeploy the creative as well as destructive energy and inspìration that is a such powerful motor of today's economy - the military-industrial complex - away from attempting to achieve full-spectrum dominance of what is and always will be a multi-polar, multi-cultural planet towards new very relevant goals such as in-depth solar-system exploration and exploitation and defending the biosphere of this planet from the consequences of hits from flying rocks!

I don't want to leave anything in the fridge!!