Big asteroid buzzes past Earth and will again in 19 years

 * Breaking News !!!!!!!! *   One of the most dangerous asteroids on record zipped close by Earth last month. It first made headlines when a reporter said that there's a chance it could hit our planet in l9 years. A collision this big is about the same as a couple thousand atomic bombs!! The space agency is 99.998% that when it  circles back around the planet in 2032 it will  simply fly past us again.

The likely hood of it striking Earth currently stands at 1:63,000. Those odds are decreasing fast as scientists find out more about the asteroid. The scientists named the asteroid TV135. TV135 was discovered on October 8 while NASA was closed during the government shutdown.This asteroid has been joining the ranks of the 10000 known near Earth objects that cause no harm.

Though it seems Earth is safer for now there is such a thing as a dooomsday asteroid. Scientists say it is likely that the impact of and astreoid over six miles wiped out dinosaurs on Earth 65 millions years ago. NASA says more will come but only every few million years.

My reaction to this article was that I was relieved the asteroid wasn't on a collision course with Earth. I also thought that it was good that the scientists found out more about the solar system around us.Overall I thought the article was interesting.

    news story

asteroid pic

 dinosaur pic

 

                  Why do leaves change colors the fall

Did you know  leaves change colors in the fall? You probably said yes but for the wrong reason. Leaves change colors in the fall because night time comes earlier and earlier and  there is not enough sunlight for the plant to use photosynthesis.  Once this happens the green pigment in plants called chlorophyll  is not produced any it stops making the tree green. This is when the interesting part happens. The trees change into orange, red, brown, and yellow colors because of carotenoids and anthocyanins inside the plant.

Carotenoids are brown, orange, and  yellow pigments. Some examples of carotenoids are carrots and  corn. Anthocyanins produce red, pink,blue and purple. Examples of anthocyanins are berries and apples.

Have you ever wondered why some fall leaves are brighter some years and duller other years?  Leaves are brighter when  the autumn days are hotter and the night are cooler because the hot days help them make food and the cool nights keep the energy and food in the leaf making them healthier and brighter.

Chlorophyll in plants absorb and reflect different colors and types of light. Chlorophyll absorbs violet, blue, and red light. It reflects green light in turn making the leaf green in color.

In the winter leaves  fall off and  die. There are some cases however that are different including the pine  and evergreen tree that keep their leaves on year round They do this because they are used to climates where there is limited water and sunlight.







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   pic of berries
   pic of carrots
   pic of pine tree
   pic of evergreen

   autumn leaves