Just a Question on my mind !

LastIrishMonkey

As i looked into space tonite cause i had nout all else too do i was wondering are we in trouble i mean is there an asteroid heading for earth or not ? and if so do we have a chance in hell of stoping it ?

well id say this has been asked tuns off times but i just want my mind too be put too rest ! so can ye help me ?

MrVestek

Yes we're all going to die... next question..

Darwin

NASA have a programme to track near earth objects...
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/

What can be done about earth bound asteroids ? Not a lot, but interesting story here:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1211_031211_asteroids.html#main

Capt'n Midnight

Most near misses are detected on the way out...

something of the size of the Hirisoma bomb would probably be picked up too late to do anything useful.

redspider

Yes, we are going to get hit by something large. Its just a matter of when! There are objects all around the solar system which are earth bound but we do not know about them now and we may most likely not know about them before they hit the earth. I recall one object was earlier this year I think that came in between the orbit of the earth and the moon and was reasonably sizeable. A near-miss which was only spotted days after the object had already passed.

The key is when will a big one hit, and what size? Wiil it be 50m, 500m or 5 km across? Space objects are hitting us all the time, meteors/meteorites, etc. There was the famous and well documented 1908 explosion over land that occurred in Siberia, flattening many thousands of acres of forest. It disintegrate before hitting. And of course the earth is peppered with craters (although they are not so easy to spot due to our active geogrpahy). I visited the one in Arziona which is about half a mile deep and from what I recall occurred something like 50,000 years ago.


There are lots of information sources out on the web about NEO's. These are the objects that we know about and that we are tracking and assessing for being a potential hit. Due to tidal gravity effects, etc, it is not possible to predict exactly whats going to happen with these objects. Most are estimated to miss but some are estimated to being quite close. Most of these wont occur for 10,000's of years. Have a look at 1950 DA (I think its called) which is quite big and due to hit way in the future.

Check out:
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/
1997 XR looks to be a "hit" in June 2101 ....

Another factor to consider is the probability of a new one coming in from a place such as the Oort-cloud or indeed the asteroid belt. According to some probability analysis, Earth is due a "big one" any time now. Of course thats in geological time, so that could be tomorrow, next year or in the next 100,000 years or so. All are roughly the same value.

Whenever it happens, it will be interesting to see how the human race copes with the effects. Hopefully a small one will occur at some point soon and perhaps lead o world peace - well maybe not!

Seanie M

Originally posted by redspider
Yes, we are going to get hit by something large. Its just a matter of when! There are objects all around the solar system which are earth bound but we do not know about them now and we may most likely not know about them before they hit the earth blah blah blah and so on.....

I can't wait till I go to bed tonight and dream of cute little bunnies hopping in the golden meadows, with butterflies flirting above their heads, and the sun shining in the distance, with the bluebirds singing in unison....


........and suddenly see a huge roaring, streaming ball of fire ripping through the atmosphere at such speed that I probably won't have time to say "ah crap, not this sh1t again.... and my SSIA was so close...."



Seanie.

Flukey

They have identified one that is on a trajectory to hit us, but it is not due for centuries, so enjoy your dream tonight!