Asteroid danger in 2014 played down

Astronomers monitoring near Earth objects are playing down the chances of a newly-discovered asteroid hitting Earth in 2014.

They say that there is a one in 909,000 chance of asteroid 2003 QQ47 impacting our planet.

The chances of a catastrophe are likely to become even slimmer once more measurements of the asteroid's orbit have been made.

more....





well above is a picture of are big friend. Lets hope he doesn't hit. The chances of it hitting us are very slim,but its enough to worry us. The asteroid is less the a mile long and if it did hit us, it would do alot of damage.

I do not think we should start worrying and running for the hills because alot of asteroids have been labelled as "the one" and none of them are going to hit us. But there is an asteroid at there which could hit us....

Oh #, all those asteroid movies are coming back to haunt me now!

its been on the radio ... i was going to post something about it before... they said something about it....

yeah i saw it this morning when i was reading the news, i was worried at first and then when i finished readin it i wasn't too bothered about it

If they're playing it down, that means they've gotten enough data to plot the orbit better and see how far away it will be.

So why's everyone getting perturbed over this? If you start twitching at every "step down" news story in the paper, you'll be ready for the funky farm by the end of the year and you'll miss the REAL threats!

One in 909,000 chance

I wouldn't take those odds in Vegas!

Pretty good chance we'll be around after this one.... Of course, some idiot at NASA could have missed a decimal point or something like a Metric conversion, hehe....

Like we can really rely on NASA for the freaken truth anyway. I for one would love to hear from some other sources as the time grows near. I have to admit, as soon as I read the story on CNN this morning, my first thought was "would they tell us "Peasants" the truth if it were heading right for us" . You know, I feel bad for feeling this way about my Goverment because I do love this country, but the truth is I simply do not trust "some" of our governing agencies and I sure the hell don't trust NASA.

Originally posted by DeltaNine
Oh #, all those asteroid movies are coming back to haunt me now!

my god, please no! I hope no one tells Hollywood this news. the last thing we need is another wave of lousy asteroid related disaster movies.

I could say something here, but I have a feeling that Byrd would show up....

I propose we name it kim,
A dark souless bitch from which there's no escape...

So who do we call? Ghostbusters or Bruce Willis and his gang (as long as he brings Liv Tyler along. Mmmmm)?

Originally posted by DeltaNine
So who do we call? Ghostbusters or Bruce Willis and his gang (as long as he brings Liv Tyler along. Mmmmm)?

GHOSTBUSTERS! I'm really not sure how much good they'd do in this situation, but they'll sure be a heck of a lot more entertaining than the Armageddon crew

That was my line of thinking too, to be honest

everyones gonna be fine i hope lol. if it did it somewhere it would probably be america i mean everything happens there!

to the supposed 2012 myths and the supposed nibiru,planet x entrance into our immediate solar system? just a question, if someone has already stated comments on, my bad.

I kinda wanted it to hit, maybe somewhere in the ocean, not harm anybody (well maybe a terrorist group) but I think it would be pretty awesome, waking up in the morning of 2014, hearing sirens blaring, turning on the news and finding out a gigantic asteroid is going to hit a few minutes. I'd probably stand outside, laugh and hope I get put out of my misery by a few people in white coats.

As far as the chances, 1 in a million aint too bad for us on the planet... with just 2 things in mind that is...

1, its the US government telling you this... do you really trust them? They have already admitted that they will not inform the general public in the event that a global killer impact is imminent.

2, IF there is an impact, this is what you can look forward to...

(posted from the comet thread)

I have already mentioned the likelihood of an impact taking place in the southern hemisphere, as that is the direction NEAT is approaching from, and if it takes place, would likely be in the Pacific. Since we don�t know the exact size, velocity, or composition of the object, the best that I can do is use the Dino-Killer asteroid as an example, as that is the only event we have any hard evidence from. (I would like to make one statement however THAT NASA IS NOT HELPING THE SITUATION BY REFUSING TO SHARE SPECIFIC ACCURATE INFORMATION!!!!!!!!!!!)

Assuming that Dino-Killer impacted the south Pacific ocean (remember, Dino-Killer was about 6 miles in diameter, and the average comet nucleus is between 10 and 150 miles in diameter, however, something as small as 1 mile in diameter could still wipe out most of a hemisphere). From time of impact, there would be a double tidal wave generated, as well as tens of millions of cubic feet of water vaporized, and at least an equal volume of rock thrown into the stratosphere. The initial tidal wave would likely cause 100% fatalities in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hawaii, the Phillipines, most of the coastal/island nations of the Pacific Rim, and would take out the US west coast, likely all the way to the Rockies (Las Vegas really could be ocean front property!) Most of central South America may well be spared, due to the high elevation of the Andes Mountains along the west coast of Chile and Peru. However, the Panama Canal Zone would be totally inundated, along with many areas of Central America. India and much of south Asia would share a similar fate. This would all happen within 0-3 hours or so of impact for the first tidal wave (estimated to be about 2-3 miles in height), with the second following less than an hour later (I doubt the 2nd would make any difference as there will likely be no survivors to notice). At this point we are talking at least 1 billion fatalities inside of 3 hours.

At the same time, from impact to 4 hours, expect large amounts of seismic activity, although not confined to the area directly opposite the impact zone. If you live near a known seismic zone, you will be affected. In the US, the San Andreas will be a non-issue due to the tidal wave, but I would expect severe activity associated with the New Madrid Fault Zone around Tennesee/Kentucky area.

Following these events, within 6-18 hours, the second round of tidal waves will arrive in the opposite side of the globe, in the Atlantic. Because a great deal of the energy will be depleted around the Pacific Rim, this one won�t be as high or devestating, although I would still expect a wall of water in excess of 1000 feet high to hit along most of the eastern seaboard, the gulf coast area, and along Europe/Africa. In the US, all of Florida will be gone, as well as large portions of the gulf coast region, and all along the eastern seaboard, likely as far inland for at least 10-30 miles, depending on topography. I would expect severe loss of life, as this is where a large % of the American population is concentrated, as well as in Portugal, France, Italy, Spain, the British Isles, and other exposed areas. At this point, I believe we may realistically be expecting 1/3 to � of the human population to have been wiped out.

Within 24-72 hours of impact, I would expect extreme downpours to begin around the world. This is due to the fact that the large volume of water vaporized on impact would begin to condense out of the atmosphere. Areas that survived the flood intact would still be at risk of localized flooding, as this is likely to be rainfall rates of feet/hour, and likely be global in extent. Also, this rain will likely bring down large amounts of rock and solid debris thrown into the atmosphere, so large numbers of mudslides are also likely.

Within 72-96 hours of impact, and lasting for at least weeks or longer, we will then have to deal with the mateial fall out of the impact. Large clouds of dust and debris will descend locally, depending on weather conditions. The density of these dustfalls could easily be great enough to cause suffocation/asphyxiation of anyone caught in the open. (Paleontologists have found evidence that large herds of animals were caught in the open in dustfalls, and hundreds dropped dead in thier tracks from dust suffocation.) This factor will likely be exacerbated by a spate of volcanism that will be induced and associated with the seismic activity immediately after impact.

One hazard that I just thought of also will be associated with these dust falls: Irridium. Irridium is a low grade radioactive material, that is rare in nature by relatively common in nickle/iron asteroids, and possibly in comets. This is the material that helped nail down the Dino-Killer Asteroid that ended the Cretacious by depositing an even layer of irridium across the globe after impact. Irridium is a very low level radioactive, so it will likely not cause radiation sickness in and of itself (although I suppose if you were coated in irridium dust for long periods, you could get surface radiation burns), however, it will likely be in the atmosphere in large amounts of dust.... if it were in sufficient density, and you were to inhale sufficient quantities, it would stay in your lungs in constant contact, and potentially cause lung cancers and other very unpleasant side effects. (Ironically, this and the dust falls may be the one job that the military MOPP gear is perfectly suited for).

Starting within a week or less, expect dramatic global climate changes, for the colder. There is no solid evidence of how long the nuclear winter could last, although it has been speculated that the Dino-Killer nuclear winter lasted anywhere from 50 to 200 years. Of course this doesnt mean the entire planet will end up as antarctica, but whatever climate you currently live in, expect it to be equivalent to moving 500-1000 feet higher in altitude at a minimum. Food production and the ecosystem in general will be very severely affected.

At this point, for the human survivors, cooperation on a scale never thought of before, combined with the best of technology and resourcefulness will be needed in order to make it through.