Hmm... That was close.

Manic Moran

And we were blissfully ignorant.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,503164,00.html

A small asteroid buzzed by Earth Monday, though only real astronomy geeks in the Pacific would have noticed.

The rock, estimated to be no more than 200 feet wide, zoomed past our planet at an altitude of 40,000 miles at 1:44 p.m. universal time — or 8:44 EST.

Dubbed 2009 DD45, it was discovered only on Friday by Australian astronomers.

Forty thousand miles may sound like a lot, but it's only about one-seventh of the way to the moon, and less than twice as far out as many telecommunications satellites.

Had 2009 DD45 hit the Earth, it would have exploded on or near the surface with the force of a large nuclear blast — not very reassuring when you consider humanity had only about three days' notice.

From another site:

Speaking with Canadian publication the Ontario Citizen, astronomer Peter Brown of the University of Western Ontario said DD45 2009 was equivalent in size to the Tunguska asteroid that exploded above Siberia in 1908 and obliterated thousands of square miles of remote forestry.

Tunguska was not exactly a small event. Meteor Crater, in Arizona, was created by a rock a mere 160 feet wide, and most everyone knows how big a hole that made.

The disturbing thing... they only found it three days before it almost hit us!
Talk about playing Russian Roulette.. it's got to hit somewhere, but where, as the world spins around, will it stop?

Three days isn't a hell of a lot of time. I could have sworn we were guaranteed enough time to either develop world peace and nuke the incoming, or send up super-titanium space shuttles to drill into it and explode it from within, or some such of that nature.

NTM

Overheal

they could have told me, i wouldve liked to watch my own end crash through the atmosphere.

Caoimhín

Pity it didnt crash into Leinster house and vaporise that shower of ****érs.

alexandros

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/
This is a great site for all you paranoid people out there.
Personally; I would rather not know.
..and I would especially rather you not know either.:p

alexandros

http://www.carloslabs.com/node/16

Enter your "Targeting Location" i.e. Dublin.
Hit Search
Select a weapon from the drop down menu at the bottom of the map.
Now hit the "Nuke It" button.
Great Fun!:D

The last weapon on the list is an Asteroid!

Overheal

^ Stole my post that I stole off gizmodo! :mad:

alexandros

Overheal wrote: »

^ Stole my post that I stole off gizmodo! :mad:

Gee.. I'm sorry Overheal.
I'll try and make it up to you.
Why don't you come over to my house.. we can watch a movie.
Have you seen Shooter?
I'll let you sit in my favorite chair.

And then we can play with my dad's shotgun!
He keeps it loaded, up against the wall; in his bedroom.

Overheal

yay! I call shotgun on the way over.

Wibbs

Close one aint in it. The tunguska one I thought was an exploding comet though? In fairness hard to tell given it blew itself to bits.. Apparently we're overdue a really big fúcka too.

Mena

Wibbs wrote: »

Close one aint in it. The tunguska one I thought was an exploding comet though? In fairness hard to tell given it blew itself to bits.. Apparently we're overdue a really big fúcka too.

We are. Can't wait myself, we need to start over, though I seriously doubt we'd get it right the next time round. :mad:

Overheal

you might be thinking of anubis. which comes in what, the 30s? If we are still around in 2013 that will be a fun one to keep marked on the calendar.

acontadino

2012...2027...2036 and then in about 700 years from now there is a 1 in 300 chance that some whopper asteroid will hit earth probably destroying civilisation..about the same odds as being hit by a car

Overheal

in 700 years i hope were smart enough and around enough to just blow it up with laser beams or something else awesome.

JonnyMaguire

Manic Moran wrote: »

And we were blissfully ignorant.

And what would you have done, ring billy-bob and bruce willis?

Have a look at this, especially the last paragraph.

http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-32-is-available!-4th-quarter-2009-Beginning-of-Phase-5-of-the-global-systemic-crisis-phase-of-global-geopolitical_a2805.html


Maybe more of a concern????

joejoem

JonnyMaguire wrote: »

And what would you have done, ring billy-bob and bruce willis?

Have a look at this, especially the last paragraph.

http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-32-is-available!-4th-quarter-2009-Beginning-of-Phase-5-of-the-global-systemic-crisis-phase-of-global-geopolitical_a2805.html


Maybe more of a concern????

lol! :rolleyes:


SCIENTOLOGY!!!!!

Zangetsu

I don't know why but this thread has sparked thoughts that most would and have been committed for :pac:

/hides from little people inside brain with white lab coats.

joejoem

JonnyMaguire wrote: »

And what would you have done, ring billy-bob and bruce willis?

Have a look at this, especially the last paragraph.

http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-32-is-available!-4th-quarter-2009-Beginning-of-Phase-5-of-the-global-systemic-crisis-phase-of-global-geopolitical_a2805.html


Maybe more of a concern????

Hey, you might find this interesting, notice the fact that it looks like a big steaming pile of crap but in fact it is a detailed analysis of your opinion.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2006/2151426160_19ce9ebdcb.jpg

Pighead

Reminds Pighead of a close escape he had with a lady of planetary proportions in a nightclub in Galway back in 97. It was getting late and Pighead was getting desperate. The bottom of the barrell had well and truly been reached. It was time to bite the bullet and ask the asteroid if she wanted to dance.

"Good evening you lovely lady, would you care for a dance" said Pighead as he tried not to stare at the bits of panky bar which were lodged in between two of her chins.
"Fcuk off you skinny cnut" she replied "they're about to turn on the lights and serve the food. It's chicken curry this evening"

God bless Galways policy of stopping nightclubs half way through to give the drunkards food. Saved Pighead from getting his vertebrae crushed on numerous occasions.

alexandros

JonnyMaguire wrote: »

And what would you have done, ring billy-bob and bruce willis?

Have a look at this, especially the last paragraph.

http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-32-is-available!-4th-quarter-2009-Beginning-of-Phase-5-of-the-global-systemic-crisis-phase-of-global-geopolitical_a2805.html


Maybe more of a concern????

wow.. I don't envy you at all.
do you spend your summers stockpiling canned food in an underground bunker?

Overheal

My dad has started talking like that in the last few months too. He wonders why I dont hang out in the living room anymore. Tin foil hat cuckoos, just sit back and enjoy the ride to doomsday why dont ya?

thelordofcheese

Manic Moran wrote: »

Three days isn't a hell of a lot of time. I could have sworn we were guaranteed enough time to either develop world peace and nuke the incoming, or send up super-titanium space shuttles to drill into it and explode it from within, or some such of that nature.

NTM

I remember seeing an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson on the daily show a while back, where he said that while we have the ability to detect these things at quite a distance, the limited funding means they can only watch a very small fraction of the sky at any given time.

It's kinda scary that a giant hunk of rock could be coming here to end life as we know it and we're unable to react in time because we can't be arsed spending the money.

Zangetsu

thelordofcheese wrote: »

I remember seeing an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson on the daily show a while back, where he said that while we have the ability to detect these things at quite a distance, the limited funding means they can only watch a very small fraction of the sky at any given time.

It's kinda scary that a giant hunk of rock IS coming here to end life as we know it and we're unable to react in time because we can't be arsed spending the money.

FYP

alexandros

thelordofcheese wrote: »

I remember seeing an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson on the daily show a while back, where he said that while we have the ability to detect these things at quite a distance, the limited funding means they can only watch a very small fraction of the sky at any given time.

It's kinda scary that a giant hunk of rock could be coming here to end life as we know it and we're unable to react in time because we can't be arsed spending the money.

Have you gone mad??? We can't spend money on that sort of non-sense.
We need to put all available funds towards Ethnic Cleansing.. no wait.. Religious Cleansing??.. no.. that's not right either.. sh1t... I'm loosing track of all the cleansings.:p

_blank_

tbh

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a256/desfeeney/nukecork.jpg

Earthhorse

Overheal wrote: »

they could have told me, i wouldve liked to watch my own end crash through the atmosphere.

There's probably a website out there somewhere that caters for your tastes.

Professey Chin

No this rock is close but those ones in space are far away

Terry

alexander.t wrote: »

Have you gone mad??? We can't spend money on that sort of non-sense.
We need to put all available funds towards Ethnic Cleansing.. no wait.. Religious Cleansing??.. no.. that's not right either.. sh1t... I'm loosing track of all the cleansings.:p

Spreading democracy is the phrase you're looking for.

stovelid

Des wrote: »

tbh

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a256/desfeeney/nukecork.jpg

A mere 400KT? You're mellowing out, Des.

/shakes head sadly

IvaBigWun

I think this is how we'll go tbh. And unlike the Hollywood films the Irish wont get any notice.

I mean, how the fook could we, as a nation, party any harder?

Terry

stovelid wrote: »

A mere 400KT? You're mellowing out, Des.

/shakes head sadly

You have to take the prevailing winds into account.
We don't want any of that radiation heading up this way.