wrote in message
ups.com...
http://www.whatistheword.com/story/SciTech_895.html

They say there is nothing to fear since the Asteroid (1/2 mile wide)
will be passing around NOON (Eastern time) at 1.1 the distance from
Earth to the Moon on July 3....

.....call me CRAZY ***would*** we be WORRIED if it came at 0.1
distance (instead of 1.1) from the Earth??


The point is moot, since it has already passed it's closest approach.

Why you ask? Because that's the asteroids distance from the Moon,
therefore it might hit the Moon (perhaps due to it's gravity)?!?!?

And then there might be THREE dangers:


1. The moon will be knocked off balance (2000 miles wide hit by 1/2
mile Asteroid) and it's gravity may affect Earth's own balance?

Not! It would take a significantly larger asteroid to have any such
effect, one that was a significant fraction of the diameter of the moon
itself.

2. What would prevent the Moon from not hitting the Earth (since the
Moon's velocity direction (+ gravity pull) may be re-aimed towards the
Earth after the impact?

Same reason as for #1.

3. One web link says ***if**** the Asteroid would hit the Earth, it
could bring life to Saturn's moon Titan, because fragments of Earth
rock would go all the way the
http://www.whatistheword.com/story/SciTech_767.html

Umm, the crater they are referring to in that article is the one on the
Yucatan pennisula that is alleged to have killed off the dinosaurs. That
crater is between "160 and 240 kilometers wide", according to the story.
The impactor was likely a little more than 12 miles in diameter. 2004 XP14
is between 1/4 mile and 1/2 mile wide, a much smaller beast. According to
calculations at the link below,should such an asteroid strike the earth on
land (crystalline rock), travelling about 19 km/s, and strike at a 45
degree angle, the final crater diameter would be just over 7 miles. So it
is most improbable that any resulting rejecta could acheive the escape
velocity needed to send it to Titan.

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/

THAT'S NICE BUT LIKEWISE FRAGMENTS FROM THE MOON if it were hit by the
Asteroid would therefore logically ALSO HIT EARTH?????

Not likely (but not impossible) from such a small object.

George