New observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in February has given scientists from the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California additional data concerning the trajectory of an asteroid called 2024 YR4 that previously was said to have a 4.3% possibility of lunar impact. They have refined the projection of the asteroid’s orbital path as it passes within 13,200 miles of the moon.

Previous observations set the date for when 2024 YR4 could possibly hit the moon as December 22, 2032. It should be a relief that the experts have assured us this won’t happen. Yet that date is curious. There was a not-insignificant amount of people convinced that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012. This was down to it coinciding with the end of the 13th cycle of the ancient Mayan calendar.

I can recall several people at my school being kept home by their parents “just in case.” December 21st also happened to coincide with the last day before Christmas break, so that seemed like a convenient excuse for those parents to go on vacation early. At the time, I didn’t think it was possible that the world could end. I had a steadfast belief that the Earth and humanity had to go on. If we all died out, who would be left to enjoy the universe? What would be the point of having a universe with no life?

I’m sure NASA’s experts who have spent their lives studying the way objects in space move aren’t wrong about the asteroid missing our planet. But I had a dream last night, and it was an experience that felt more real to me than a bunch of math I don’t understand. In the dream, it turned out the scientists were wrong. The asteroid hit us despite our belief there was no chance it could happen.

What has stuck with me the most was the complete and utter hopelessness I felt. It wasn’t just that I was terrified of dying, or knowing everyone I’ve ever cared about would die. It was the realization that everything in the entire world was going to die. From every person, plant, and animal, right on down to the single-celled organisms hiding at the bottom of your water bottle. I felt that hopelessness of knowing that for the rest of time, Earth would be a dead planet.

I know my dream doesn’t really make sense. The predicted impact wasn’t considered an extinction event if it had occurred. It could have affected tidal movement and weather patterns on Earth, which would result in a significant number of deaths, but life would continue. Even if we were ever wiped out due to an asteroid hitting the moon, at least some microscopic organisms would probably survive. That’s not much, but it’s better than the complete annihilation of all living things that happened in my dream.

You probably have nothing to worry about. I’ve never known my dreams to possess predictive powers. And yet that date keeps nagging at me. December 22, 2032 is almost exactly 20 years after December 21, 2012. So what if we got the “doomsday” date wrong? What if our understanding of the Mayan calendar cycle is incomplete? It’s not likely, but is it possible? I fear what the answer could be. I fear that the day might come when I feel that sense of complete and utter despair for real.

-Quinn Paxton, Acting Editor-in-Chief, Emerson Valley Gazette