A 2-kilometer-wide asteroid named 1998 OR2 just flew past Earth, driving home one of the most enduring space myths: that the solar system is a crowded place, packed with flying rocks that constantly menace our planet. This past week, many scientists and science journalists (including myself) on Twitter were bombarded with anxious questions from people who had embraced that myth. They were concerned that the menace had arrived in the form of 1998 OR2, a doomsday rock about to hit us.
In reality, space is overwhelmingly empty. It is empty to an extent that is beyond human experience, beyond most human imagination, perhaps even beyond human tolerance. We are surrounded by very little risk, because we are surrounded by shocking loneliness.
I understand why people worry, though. For decades, we've all been immersed in movies, TV shows and comic books that depict a crowded version of space. The "asteroid field" featured in The Empire Strikes Back (shown up above) is a prime example. A very similar asteroid swarm pops up in the new series, Star Trek: Discovery. This kind of astronomical falsehood is practically essential for science fiction storytelling. Who wants to watch characters sailing uneventfully through seemingly endless stretches of empty space?
