Another asteroid close call (??)

On August 16, 2003, asteroid 37655 (1994PM) will make close flyby to the earth, missing by 0.0250 Astronomical Units. Moving at a speed of 26.4 km/second, at between 1km-1.9km diameter, this is a potential dinokiller.

neo.jpl.nasa.gov...

Now, so that Im not accused of rumor and scare mongering, I will say that NASA predicts this object to miss by up to 9 lunar distances, or about 1.25 million miles (although that is a close shave by orbital standards).

However, considering that NASA has in recent years been EXTREMELY lax in telling the world about potential earth impactors, until they have already exited earth space (3 times last year, objects crossed inside lunar orbit and NASA failed to release this information until they had left), I dont know that I quite trust them.

It is certainly up to everyone here to make up thier own minds on the issue.... But consider the facts, and take facts given by the government with a grain of salt.

For example:

Paris (AFP)
June 20, 2002

A football-pitch-sized asteroid capable of razing a major city came within a whisker of hitting the Earth on June 14, but was only spotted three days later, scientists said Thursday.

Asteroid 2002 MN, estimated at up to 120 metres (yards) long, hurtled by the Earth at a distance of 120,000 kilometers (75,000 miles), well within the orbit of the Moon and just a hair's breadth in galactic terms. It is the closest recorded near-miss by any asteroid, with the exception of a 10-metre (33-feet) rock, 1994 XM1, which approached within 105,000 kilometers (65,000) miles on December 9, 1994, they said.

"2002 MN is a lightweight among asteroids and incapable of causing damage on a global scale, such as the object associated with the extinction of the dinosaurs," the Near Earth Object (NEO) Information Centre of Britain's National Space Centre said in a press release. "However, if it had hit the Earth, 2002 MN may have caused local devastation similar to that which occurred in Tunguska, Siberia in 1908, when 2,000 square kilometres (800 square miles) of forest ere flattened," it said.

pw1.netcom.com...

Quite a close shave, at least they've told us before its almost hit us.
Or maybe its actually going to hit ....eeeek!

A very interesting site on the subject...

www.s-d-g.freeserve.co.uk...

Earth Impact
Welcome to my Earth Impact site. Earth Impact is a personal home page dedicated to the subject of meteorites and comets - more especially, their occasional close encounters with the Earth.
The subject is dealt with by illustration and discussion, and documents a number of impact events both recent and past. If you're new to the subject then the Introduction page is a good place to start as it gives you an overview of what the site is about.

One even closer... and sooner...

On July 26, 2003, about 1 month from now, 54509 (2000PH5) will come to a close fly by of earth at a distance of 0.0116 AU from earth, or about 4 times the distance of the moon, about 1 million miles. Again, in orbital terms, this is a very close shave.

This one is only about 100-190 meters in diameter and moving about 7 km/sec, which is much smaller and slower than the first object cited. However, it is still quite large enough to serious screw up the day for a medium sized city if it were to impact.

neo.jpl.nasa.gov...

Considering the previous post, that NASA seems to like to hold its breath until such objects pass, doesnt give one too much confidence... makes you wonder if they know something they arent telling...

Also serves to let people know that there are far more objects in the sky than we are likely led to believe.

This is one subject i am happy to be ignorant on, if its going to hit tell us, but dont fill us with these rumors nasa!

On March 23, 1989, an asteroid with a kinetic energy of over 1000 one-megaton hydrogen bombs (i.e., about 5,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima) was recorded to have passed very close to Earth, using new technology equipment recently emplaced. Named 1989FC, this asteroid was detected only well after its point of closest approach, and we found out it had passed so close only after calculating backwards its orbital path after realizing its nearness. This was a key event that brought near Earth asteroids into the political arena.

Later, the new Spacewatch Camera in Arizona, using the latest technology in electronic sensors and computerized automated detection, discovered four asteroids that came closer to the Earth than the Moon (actually within half the distance of the Moon) in 1991-94!

www.permanent.com...

If an asteroid of size 200 meters hit the ocean (which covers 70% of the Earth), the tsunami (i.e., giant wave) it would create would inflict catastrophic destruction of coastal cities and substantial worldwide human casualties along coastlines. If an asteroid of size 1 kilometer hit Earth, it would cause a dust cloud which would block out sunlight for at least a year and lead to a deep worldwide winter, exhausting food supplies. The latter is what caused the dinosaur extinction, as well as other major extinctions of smaller creatures in geologic time scales. The 200 meter asteroid hits, which are far more common than the 1 km+ hits, wouldn't show up much in geologic histories on a global scale. There have been many local tsunamis and brief climate changes in recorded history without any understanding of why.