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Astronomy

Eyes wide shut

Nature volume 403, pages 145–148 (2000)Cite this article

Astronomers like to forget that the roots of their subject lie in ancient superstitions about the influence of the cosmos on everyday affairs. In fact, astronomy and astrology were closely intertwined as recently as four centuries ago, when Tycho Brahe laid the foundations of modern astronomy while simultaneously maintaining a lucrative business in personal horoscopes. Modern astronomers generally scoff at such superstitious beliefs, so it is somewhat ironic that science has in the past few decades uncovered compelling evidence for celestial interference in terrestrial matters.

It is now clear that asteroids occasionally wander from the main belt beyond Mars because of chaotic instabilities caused by Jupiter. Some of these errant asteroids strike the Earth with terrible consequences. On page 165 of this issue, Rabinowitz et al.1 report that the number of threatening near-Earth objects (NEOs) larger than 1 km in diameter is only half the previous estimates. But we still have no effective means of detecting them all, and no form of self-defence.

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Figure 1: Previous impacts by near-Earth objects (NEOs).

References

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  1. the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii, USA

    David Jewitt

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  1. David Jewitt
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Correspondence to David Jewitt.

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Jewitt, D. Eyes wide shut. Nature 403, 145–148 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35003077

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