Fifteen years ago this month, earthly telescopes saw a comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, break up and go plowing into Jupiter's atmosphere, leaving a string of dark spots in the cloud tops.
And, if in another 15 years time Jupiter is on the opposite side of the solar system from the direction of a comet headed toward earth, then it may be too far away to protect our planet from collision.
I'm being facetious
Fifteen years ago this month, earthly telescopes saw a comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, break up and go plowing into Jupiter's atmosphere, leaving a string of dark spots in the cloud tops.
And, if in another 15 years time Jupiter is on the opposite side of the solar system from the direction of a comet headed toward earth, then it may be too far away to protect our planet from collision.