Jupiter collision a warning call to Earth
When an object smacked into Jupiter over the weekend, giving astronomers their best cosmic-collision show since the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994, the giant gas ball of a planet took the poke like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
For all its scientific interest, however, the collision also serves as a stark reminder that the solar system remains a shooting gallery – with Earth, as well as Jupiter, on the wrong side of the firing line.
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These objects do pose a threat to earth and enhanced monitoring networks will help to avoid a future disaster. Not really something that most people lend credibility to, the public doesn't really realize how dangerous and numerous near-earth asteroids are.