Newly Discovered 400 FT Asteroid to zip Past Earth Tonight

reply to post by lostbook


An AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHsteroid ! My voice cracked.

reply to post by randyvs


When and where can you see it from earth? Meaning where is the best place to see it from and time?

antar
reply to post by SayonaraJupiter

 

Well I gave you a star...

It is so interesting how these NEOs are now being released for public to enjoy and fret over. So without looking at your link, do you mean it is somehow going to be used for some covert political agenda? I think that they are becoming more than they ever anticipated.

I'm hoping that Hollywood is writing this script so the chances are we'll get a happy ending.

qmantoo
If it was that close and they thought there was a possibility of impact, then I guess they would not want to cause a panic (over nothing)?

That astronomers would withhold information out of concern that it would (allegedly) cause panic, is a strange idea that completely goes against everything I've seen in how the astronomy community functions. So the quicker you get rid of that idea, the better. Astronomical observations and calculations are shared around the world without any such concerns. For all it matters, it could be an amateur astronomer, or an independant observatory, that discovers an asteroid on the collision course, and puts the information out. Besides, an early warning will help with evacuation. If the asteroid is only _potentially_ hazardous, then there's no reason to withhold information at all. In fact, the information needs to be shared so that other astronomers and observatories could help with calculating asteroid's trajectory. The information is public at the Minor Planet Center. www.minorplanetcenter.net...

muSSang
...I'm astounded that we can find something 100m wide at that distance...

It's not surprising as there are thousands of telescopes watching the skies every minute. But what is surprising is that NONE of them have spotted any alien craft.

reply to post by lostbook


The key to having time to react is to be ready before you need to be ready, that way you haven't got to react.

Some things aren't survivable, getting but by a 30 mile wide asteroid is one of those things. So let's be realistic when you're planning how to react. Honestly, if something that big is coming you may as well spend the time you'd otherwise use to buy stuff, with hour family or whoever.

As far as this one goes, if it didn't hit you I'm sure you'd at least have a chance to be fine. But it goes to show, it's apparently not too hard for something to sneak past our telescopes and radar until the last minutes before it hits! Kinda scary, but at the same time, there's no reason to live in fear either.

reply to post by Mapkar


Yes -- a 30-mile wide asteroid (or even a 10 mile wide one) would be large enough to cause global devastation, including the extinction of many species, including humans (eventually from not just the impact, but also its aftermath).

However, A 335-foot (102 meter) asteroid is not a planet killer nor and extinction level event -- although it is still large enough to cause localized devastation (a crater the size of a small city) and a large debris cloud that may even have a continent-wide effect.

Considering the Earth's surface is 2/3 ocean, it is more likely that it (or what's left of it after burning through the atmosphere) would strike an ocean, causing a huge tsunami. With some warning and the calculation of an impact point, coastal areas (in the case of an ocean impact) or the regions near a land impact could begin to be evacuated in order to save lives.



EDIT TO ADD:
...although this one will not hit us.

*double post

reply to post by SayonaraJupiter


I just do not understand why we are not yet using our higher guarded technologies to help our planet and space around it to be the utopia it could be. When will the point of no return happen? How long do we have to wait and see? As they search desperately for off world sites to continue the damage, to mine and to contaminate, there must also be plans for moving earthlings off planet for continuity of the human race.

Lynk3


No seriously though, is it an asteroid or is it that remnant of ISON everyone is talking about?

edit on 01312k3 by Lynk3 because: (no reason given)

my thoughts exactly


this space rock just sneaks up out of nowhere.... right on the heels of the debris field of ISON
the only thing that can exclude it from being associated with ISON remnants is the trajectory.....

St Udio

Lynk3


No seriously though, is it an asteroid or is it that remnant of ISON everyone is talking about?

edit on 01312k3 by Lynk3 because: (no reason given)

my thoughts exactly


this space rock just sneaks up out of nowhere.... right on the heels of the debris field of ISON
the only thing that can exclude it from being associated with ISON remnants is the trajectory.....

Except that this asteroid is nowhere near ISON.

Asteroid 2013 YL2 will be a little less than 1 million miles from Earth at its closest approach, and comet ISON (at its closest) was about 40 Million miles from Earth, and moving farther away every day. ISON is now about 43 Million miles away.

In fact, the Planet Venus is much closer to Earth right now (about 26 Million miles) than ISON ever was.