Because of the nature of the orbit, we cannot predict thousands of years into the future for this object, but in anyone's lifetime now, there is no chance |
create more difficulty than solving the problem. |
However, to actually know what your seeing, a small telescope would be useful. |
I think my mom used to wonder, 'What are you saying when you're saying that?' |
In a large telescope the motion would be perceptible against any stars in the field more or less in real time, sort of like watching the second hand on a clock, ... not quite that fast, but noticeable. |
That is, we would still not know better than one-chance-in-five whether the impact would really occur or not. |
We really would need a transponder to improve tracking enough to firmly establish that an impact would occur. |
Whether you could see it from the center of London is another matter. |
Yesterday, we had a great rain storm for about 15 to 30 minutes, which helped matters a lot. However, today the rain is drying up and there is no more expected any time soon. |