It's supposed to cut through the orbit of our satellites and come within 17,200 miles of the surface of the earth. Anybody worried yet?? http://science.time.com/2013/02/15/asteroid-will-buzz-earth-miss-by-17150-miles/ http://www.space.com/19759-asteroid-2012-da14-flyby-observing-tips.html
NASA will be live streaming the flyby (expected 2:34 PM this afternoon) at: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2
Some are saying the meteorite hit in Russia is related to coming asteroid but some scientists are saying it's coincidence. This is the big one coming in about 4 hours:
cant say im worried about a 150 foot asteroid, They say a 6 mile long asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Whats the worst that could happen
It's not unreasonable to suggest that what hit Russia today were leading fragments of whatever collision caused the asteroid in the first place. It would be kind of unusual for them to be traveling along the same orbital path and in front of the asteroid but it's possible. They'd be a lot closer to the earth right now because the earth's gravitational pull would be effecting smaller objects more than larger ones. It's most likely just a coincidence though.
Possible 20 Billion Megaton Impact on Mars Next Year I'm having sudden visions of the Star Trek Genesis experiment or that scene in total recall when the mutant activates the subterranean machine.... MOSCOW, February 28 (RIA Novosti) – New observations confirm that a comet heading toward Mars could collide with it in October 2014, possibly ushering in radical environmental change on the Red Planet, astronomy enthusiasts said. ... A possible impact would release up to 20 billion megatons of energy and leave a crater 500 kilometers (310 miles) wide and two kilometers (1.2 miles) deep, given that the comet is 10 to 50 kilometers wide and moving at a speed of 56 kilometers (35 miles) per second in respect to the planet, according to ISON-NM’s data. ... The impact could raise enough dust and release enough frozen carbon dioxide to radically change Mars’ atmosphere, Matson said in emailed comments on Thursday. The blow could either enhance the greenhouse effect, resulting in a thicker atmosphere, or cause surface temperature on Mars to plummet because the dust would obscure the Sun, Matson said. http://en.ria.ru/science/20130228/179741469.html
If that comet was heading towards Earth, I'd imagine Apocalypse would be in full swing...I'd assume the world would work to destroy that comet by any means in space or when it enters our atmosphere...But 50 kilometers is near impossible to destroy. That thing would hit the Earth's core
Well yeah, this is one monster ice pellet, but you wouldn't have to destroy it. You just have to knock it off course and make sure you don't convert one 33 mile diameter projectile with a 30% chance of impact into thirty three 1-mile projectiles with half of them 100% certain to hit. Then you're really fucked
50 kilometers is about 3 times the size of the object that wiped out the dinosaurs. If this is actually real we're going to get to watch an extinction level event in all it's glory in our neighborhood. I'll bet that gets NASA's funding bumped. Edit: just realized that some of the ejecta from the impact will probably get escape velocity and start moving around as well. That'll make lots of new objects to track also. NASA and ESA must be watching this with bated breath and budget-busting fantasies already dancing around in their collective heads.
Good programme on this last night http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01r6dys/Horizon_The_Truth_About_Meteors_A_Horizon_Special/ Some nice reconstructions as well.
