Giant comet not to collide with Earth: Russian scientists

Moscow, Oct 12 (UNI) Scientists from Russia's central observatory, Pulkovo Observatory, near St Petersburg have dismissed a prediction that a giant comet will collide with the Earth, later this month.

''Our research does not support media reports that a giant comet will collide with the Earth in late October, the spokesman for the Observatory Sergei Smirnov told RIA Novosti news agency today.

Earlier this month, some media reported that according to the prediction of Russian astronomer Nikolai Fedorovsky a huge comet will collide with Earth on October 28, which will trigger devastating tsunamis, earthquakes and avalanches.

Smirnov said the astronomer Fedorovsky, who even failed to name the scientific institute he belonged to, is simply seeking publicity.

He said astronomers currently were observing potentially dangerous celestial bodies using special search systems.

According to Smirnov, objects larger than 100 meters in diameter or more were considered dangerous. If one were to hit the Earth, it would cause a regional disaster comparable to the explosion of the Tunguska meteorite in Siberia in 1908.

He pointed out that objects larger than one kilometer in diameter would cause a continental catastrophe.

''A collision with an object larger than 10 kilometers in diameter would cause a global disaster. Such disasters occur once in dozens of millions of years, and are followed by serious climatic changes.'' UNI XC MS VV1833