德國13歲男孩爲美國宇航局糾錯

A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected NASA's estimates on the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper reported Tuesday, after spotting the boffins had miscalculated.

Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 chance that the Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten reported.

NASA had previously estimated the chances at only 1 in 45,000 but told its sister organization, the European Space Agency (ESA), that the young whizzkid had got it right.

The schoolboy took into consideration the risk of Apophis running into one or more of the 40,000 satellites orbiting Earth during its path close to the planet on April 13 2029.

Those satellites travel at 3.07 kilometres a second (1.9 miles), at up to 35,880 kilometres above earth -- and the Apophis asteroid will pass by earth at a distance of 32,500 kilometres.

If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, that will change its trajectory making it hit earth on its next orbit in 2036.

Both NASA and Marquardt agree that if the asteroid does collide with earth, it will create a ball of iron and iridium 320 metres wide and weighing 200 billion tonnes, which will crash into the Atlantic Ocean.

The shockwaves from that would create huge tsunami waves, destroying both coastlines and inland areas, whilst creating a thick cloud of dust that would darken the skies indefinitely.

The 13-year old made his discovery as part of a regional science competition for which he submitted a project entitled: "Apophis -- The Killer Astroid."

德國一家報紙於本週二報道，德國一名13歲男孩發現並糾正了美國宇航局有關一顆小行星與地球相撞機率的計算錯誤。

據德國《Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten》報道，這個名叫尼科•馬夸特的男孩根據波茨坦天體物理研究所天文望遠鏡獲得的數據資料，計算出阿波菲斯行星撞擊地球的機率爲1/450，而非美國宇航局之前估算的1/45000。

美國宇航局得知這一消息後，告知“兄弟”機構歐洲航天局這個“小神童”的計算結果是正確的。

馬夸特考慮到了阿波菲斯行星在2029年4月13日靠近地球時與一顆或多顆圍繞地球運轉的衛星相撞的可能性。目前地球周圍的衛星達四萬顆。

這些衛星位於地球上方3.588萬公里，運行速度爲每秒3.07公里，而阿波菲斯行星則預計將在距離地球3.25萬公里的地方經過。

如果這顆小行星於2029年撞上一顆衛星，它的運行軌道就會改變，那麼它很可能將在2036年下一次靠近地球時與地球相撞。

美國宇航局與馬夸特一致認爲，如果阿波菲斯行星真的與地球相撞，將會產生一個直徑320米、重達2000億噸的鐵銥合金球，墜入大西洋。

而由此產生的衝擊波會引發海嘯巨浪，摧毀附近的島嶼和內陸地區，同時厚厚的塵埃雲會長時間地籠罩在天空中。

馬夸特的這個新發現來自他參加一項地區科學競賽時提交的參賽項目，他的參賽項目名爲“阿波菲斯——一顆殺手行星”。