asteroid heading towards earth

Originally posted by E_T

Originally posted by cheese
If the asteroid were to hit Earth, the resulting explosion would be the equivalent to a direct strike with 20 hydrogen bombs.

Maybe equivalent to 20 Russian 100Mt "country buster".

Using quarter mile size and conservative other values its impact energy would be something like 1700 megatons.
Compare that to yield of typical nukes which are 0.2-0.5 megatons at most.

www.lpl.arizona.edu...

I was thinking the exact same thing... if its only about 20 H-bombs then the blast wouldnt be so great. I mean compared to the one that killed the dinos thats like nothing. Still I wouldnt wanna me around when that happened lol.

Question if this object does passes by the Earth wouldn't it need to come back around to return where it came from?

And if so what chance of it won't miss Earth on the outbound?

Just asking because what is known is that what ever object passes us such comets and etc.. it orbits around the Sun and returns to wherever it came from!!!!

Well, if it did come close enough for the Earth gravity to have an effect on its orbit, then I doubt that it would be a problem again to earth since its trajectory has changes substantially.

Originally posted by 2ndSEED
Question if this object does passes by the Earth wouldn't it need to come back around to return where it came from?

Not necessarily. It can slingshot off into the interstellar spaces. There's a number of items that are apparently a "one pass only."

Question if this object does passes by the Earth wouldn't it need to come back around to return where it came from?

The planets have settled into their respective orbits over time because they are huge. Smaller objects like asteroids can have orbits but usually they are loaded with a lot of kinetic energy (from their creation, usually a collision of some kind) which pushes them past and out of the orbit of larger bodies. They don't lose much energy passing through the void of space so they're moving fast.

Assuming it misses Earth and the interior planets, it will probably be pulled into a sun-based descent or it will move beyond the Sun and toward the unknown. To escape Sol, the asteroid would have to be moving very fast, I believe.

I'm no expert, but it seems like a rogue asteroid would be the kind of thing humanity could use right about now. It might be a clue that God is not protecting Earth (which would shut the religious fanatics up) and it might jump-start a global way of thinking (which would force us to look at our use of resources). More likely, a global asteroid would be a total cataclysm as described in "Lucifer's Hammer", one of my favorite books.

just the mothership coming in for a landing...
nothing to see here...
get your welcome mats ready

Well, Earth is going to be hit by an asteroid, it;s only a matter of time, we either need to:
Build very secure underground citites
Flee into space
Save the planet by destorying/diverting the asteroid
I'm up for the first suggestion!

This must be like really really close if its between the moon and earth because when you look at the moon outside it looks like its just right outside. Only UK will be able to see this? There better be pics damnit!

hummmmm wonder if that is why they are going to try to "blow up" that commet on the 4th of July. Maybe they are going to see if it will work so when this big boy heads our way we will know how to destroy it before it destroys us.

Remember, if the asteroid gets to close when blown up, the entire world will be hit by bits of rock and will cause devestation.

So it's in our region on FRIDAY 13th !...nice...Don't walk under any ladders on that day.