Our history of celestial strikes and more to come? What do we do?

Not sure if this the right place to post this so MODs please move accordingly if required.

I did a search and couldn't find anything (search function not working for me right now..) so if this is a duplicate thread, I apologize and mods will do what they do..

I came accross this on CBC News and though I would post it since there is a lot of talk about the said subject in the past weeks or so.

Here Goes!!

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Eastern Antarctica

... there are signs that a huge crater buried deep under the East Antarctic ice sheet was caused by the largest piece of space rock ever to hit the Earth. Magnetic imaging shows an impact area about 500 kilometres in diameter. That would indicate a meteor nearly 50 kilometres wide.

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Chicxulub, Mexico

A rounded landform on the northwest shoulder of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula is all that can be seen of this giant impact site. Scientists speculate that a celestial object some 10 kilometres wide smacked into the area 65 million years ago. That's estimated to have caused an explosion equivalent to 100 trillion tonnes of TNT, or five billion times larger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945.

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Sudbury, Ont.

Deep beneath the Canadian Shield, miners from this city toil to extract seams of nickel and copper exposed when a meteor the size of Mount Logan is thought to have slammed into Earth some 1.8 billion years ago.

Tunguska, Siberia

Literally speaking, there was no physical impact here when a massive explosion in 1908 levelled trees, broke windows and caused casualties over a wide area of Central Russia. Eyewitnesses report seeing a brilliant blue light streak across the sky, followed by series of loud bangs.

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Arizona meteor crater

A relatively small chunk of matter from space crashed into the Arizona desert between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago.

The crater is just over a kilometre from rim to rim, which indicates a space projectile about 40 metres in diameter.

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100km (62mile) wide crater discovered in Greenland - and it is possible crater is more than 500km in size

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Finnefjeld mountain, which is around 1050m high, is believed to be the crushed core of the structure

Source
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The dull grey rocks were crushed to fine powder by the impact, and then cut by white melt sheets

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Obviously I do not need to go back into the meteor shower of the past week because I think that this has been covered in depth already.

Now I am aware that there are many many more cases but still, I will stop here. I have been reading a lot of Articles/documentaries about this as it fascinates me. And well....that got me thinking....

Uh Oh!!! I am thinking...

Now what are the odds of a Global Killer to strike us? Again? Not too good apparently but history shows that it has happenned before and could/will just as easily happen again. In the near future, in a year, a hundred years, a million years, who knows?

But what are our options if we spot one heading right for us? Now!!Link

How Do We Stop Asteroids From Destroying Earth?

The method used to prevent a cataclysmic disaster will depend on how large the object in question is. ..., but there are still things that we can do:

Nuclear Bomb: to detonate a nuclear weapon, or some other powerful bomb strategically near the object. The blast would knock the object off course.

Rocket Motor: Alternatively, a rocket or motor could be attached to the object, and used to drive it onto a new course.

Solar Sail: The solar energy from the sun can actually apply pressure on an object. So a sail could be attached to the object to harness the solar wind, similar to how we use sail boats here on Earth, and divert the course of the object that way.

Break The Object Up: NASA could also use a weapon to break the object up into smaller pieces.

The problem is that these defenses are not in place, some of them only exist in theory.

So there are a few options that could save us "in theory". But if this meteor shower we just had is a precurser....and the big one is near.....we are in for quite a show aren't we. Because there is not much that could be done on short notice except to bend over and kiss your *** goodbye !!!

I wonder if there is actually a defensive measure in place that "they" dont tell us about? Because just telling the general population about it could cause histeria as people would likely automaticaly assume one IS coming.

Any thoughts ATS?

There is a potential candidate for a future event in 2040. 2011AG5

2011 AG5 is the object which currently has the highest chance of impacting the Earth … in 2040. However, we have only observed it for about half an orbit,

Source

But I wouldn't worry about it too much, Technology is advancing fast and by that time, IF it is on a path to hit us, we will have found a solution by then...Right?!?

To have a better idea of the trajectory, they need to observe 1 or 2 full orbits according to the article.

Didn't read the full articles yet but I will shortly. I say whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger!!

Nice thread tho, SF, I didn't even know about most of the ones you mentionned

Im learnding!

DE-STAR seems like the best bet at the moment.

DE-STAR is being described as a ‘directed energy orbital defense system,’ one that uses solar energy to feed its lasers. The researchers have calculated DE-STAR systems in various configurations, including a 100-meter DE-STAR 2 and a 10-kilometer DE-STAR 4, the latter capable of delivering the energy needed to obliterate a 500-meter asteroid in about a year.

It also has great potential as a propulsion system.

Larger still, DE-STAR 6 could enable interstellar travel by functioning as a massive, orbiting power source and propulsion system for spacecraft. It could propel a 10-ton spacecraft at near the speed of light, allowing interstellar exploration to become a reality without waiting for science fiction technology such as "warp drive" to come along, Lubin said.

A fascinating prospect, and more likely to receive funding now, after the russian
meteor and close fly by last week.

Full article here: www.ia.ucsb.edu...

reply to post by Atzil321



Thanks for the contribution Atzil, much appreciated. I did not find anything about DE-STAR...I never even heard of it!!

You are right, they will likely get much more funding now....

reply to post by Teye22


Nice thread. S&F. This old rock has definitely taken quite a beating in its time, and yet she's still going strong. It's only a matter of time before happens again.

If I can nit pick a little now, I did notice you forgot to mention my personal favorite impact site
(Favorite because its right here in my home town)

The Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater
Date to about 35 million years ago, Is the 6th largest impact site on Earth, and the largest in the US. The force that the bolide impacted with altered the entire geography of the region, which accounts for why the York and James rivers flow northeast to the Atlantic, following the crater rim, while almost all other waterways in the region flow southeast. In fact, the impact, is even believed to be the biggest contributing factor in the formation of the bay itself.

WIKI - en.m.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by LucidFusion


Thanks for your contribution LucidFusion, I apreciate all the help I can get. There are likely hundreds more all over the globe. Is there physical traces of this impact still visible today? I would doubt it because of the time that had passed since the impact but the one in arizona is still practicaly intact so you never know right.., but it must be cool to be able to walk up to the crator and take a peek!

Here are a few more taken from this LIST

Vredefort Crater, South Africa

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The asteroid that hit Vredefort is estimated to have been one of the largest ever to strike Earth (at least since the Hadean eon some four billion years ago), thought to have been approximately 5–10 km (3.1–6.2 mi) in diameter.

Manicouagan, Québec, Canada

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At roughly 213-215 million years old, Manicouagan is one of the youngest large astroblemes visible on the surface.

Acraman crater, South Australia

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Acraman crater is a deeply eroded impact crater in the Gawler Ranges of South Australia.[1] Its location is marked by Lake Acraman, a circular ephemeral playa lake about 20 km in diameter

There are many more on the list so if some of you are interested, visit the link and you can get details about a lot of other crators, impact sites around the globe.

Thanks for reading.

reply to post by Teye22


Well it's actually at the bottom if the bay, under layers of sediments, so it's not really a site one can easily explore. It was actually discovered accidently, while taking core samples from thom the floor of the bay. It is apparently one of the best preserved water impact sites in the world though, so that makes it a great location to study the long term effects of these kind of events. To be honest I've lived in Virginia Beach for pretty much my entire life, but had no clue there was even an impact there until a few years ago. I actually stumbled upon it by accident myself, while reading about other impacts.

There is even another site in the US, about 99 miles east of Atlantic City New Jersey, on the Atlantic Continetal Shelf, called the Toms Canyon Impact Crater. It lies just 200 miles northeast of the Chesapeake Bay Site, and is also dated to the same time period (Eocene Epoch), so researchers believe that the 2 sites could be linked to the same event.

Wiki - en.m.wikipedia.org...

I think I'm going to go get a hundred cases of beer and hide in the basement till this all blows over. Shoot, no bathroom in the basement....scrap the basement part.

Originally posted by rickymouse
I think I'm going to go get a hundred cases of beer and hide in the basement till this all blows over. Shoot, no bathroom in the basement....scrap the basement part.

If you bring all that beer over.....I will share my bathroom with you no problem at all

I have a bathroom down there... YESSSER!!!!!! there are no prbolems...only solutions

reply to post by LucidFusion


too bad you cant see it! it would have been pretty cool right? Still quite interesting though, who knows how many are unknown and right under our noses.

Thanks for the reply

Seeing as you are Canadian, Here is a couple from your neck of the woods.

Sudbury Basin in Ontario, Canada is the second largest known impact crater on Earth. It is also believed to be the oldest known Impact Site on Earth, due to the fact that the impact that created it is believed to have occurred around 1.85 BILLION years ago, during the Paleoproterozoic Era

WIKI - en.wikipedia.org...

Lake Wanapitei in Sudbury, Canada, sits atop the site of a separate impact event, dated to about 37 million+/- years ago during the Eocene

WIKI - en.wikipedia.org...

Enjoy!