https://productvortex.com/2025/09/04/dangerous-asteroids-in-history/
The Most Dangerous Asteroids in History: What We’ve Faced, What We’ve Feared, and What We’ve Learned
When people ask about “the most dangerous asteroids,” they usually mean one of two things: the objects that actually hit us and did outsized damage, or the near-Earth asteroids that—based on the best data available at the time—looked frightening until more observations dialed the risk down. Both kinds matter. The former are hard, sobering case studies; the latter are the stress tests that sharpen our detection networks, models, and playbooks for planetary defense.
This long-form guide traces both threads. We’ll look at the worst known asteroid impact in Earth’s geologic record; two historic modern-era blasts that arrived with little warning; and a handful of infamous “risk list” asteroids—Apophis, 1950 DA, Bennu, 2009 FD, 2011 AG5, and 2013 TV135—whose stories show how scientific uncertainty narrows over time. Along the way, we’ll demystify the threat scales (Torino and Palermo), highlight what constitutes “danger” in practical terms, and end with what’s being done now to keep an eye on the sky.
