Asteroid Set To Narrowly Miss Earth

[Gahars]

AKA "Apocalypse Not" or "Armageddon Nowhere" or "We're here to kick ass-teroid and chew bubblegum, and we're all out of ass-teroid."

The idea of an asteroid or comet coming down and decimating the Earth is certainly a scary one; if you don't think so, ask the dinosaurs. To at least give us a heads up before certain doom, NASA and other agencies do their best to track these otherworldly doombringers.

Well, for quite some time, astronomers have been keeping their eye on Apophis. They believed that the 1,000 foot-wide asteroid had a chance (remote, sure, but still a chance nonetheless) of colliding with the planet in 2036. No one Many asked: Would this be the apocalypse people on TV tell you the Mayans predicted?

Until now.

...the sizable Earth-crossing asteroid 99942 Apophis will pose no threat when it comes near our planet in 2036.

Right now Apophis is in the midst of a rather distant yet much-awaited pass in Earth's vicinity, coming within 9 million miles (14½ million km) earlier today. It's been tracked for about 2½ weeks by NASA's 230-foot (70-m) Goldstone radio/radar dishin California, and those observations have given astronomers the confidence to issue an "all clear" for the foreseeable future.

"Goldstone single-pixel observations of Apophis have ruled out the potential 2036 Earth impact," says Jon Giorgini, a dynamicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Based on revised orbit calculations, he says Apophis will then come no closer than about 14 million miles — and more likely miss us by something closer to 35 million miles. Moreover, the radar data have improved the asteroid's positional uncertainty so much that dynamicists can now accurately predict its trajectory decades into the future.

Sky and Telescope

So relax everyone. Of all the many problems and threats facing humanity, and life on this planet in general, "death by asteroid" is not one of them. For now, anyway.

It's time to celebrate people. We're going to live - at least, for just a little while longer.

 

[shakirmoledina]

umm this is like a news about a game being cancelled, forget about it? or be thankful we are alive.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

AKA "Apocalypse Not" or "Armageddon Nowhere" or "We're here to kick ass-teroid and chew bubblegum, and we're all out of ass-teroid."

The idea of an asteroid or comet coming down and decimating the Earth is certainly a scary one; if you don't think so, ask the dinosaurs.

I would but your grandma's out of town this week.

 

[chavosaur]

What if another asteroid bumps into it? Could that send it back on a death path?

 

[Veho]

2036, eh? We still have time to intercept it, attach ion thrusters to it, and ram it into the Earth?

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I'm sure there'll be an Aerosmith song written for the occasion.

 

[Veho]

I'm sure there'll be an Aerosmith song written for the occasion.

It will be titled "Almost".

"I don't want to miss a thing" will have a whole 'nother meaning.

 

[Ryupower]

every few years (or almost every year)
some type of space objects comes close to earth (in space terms)
there atre many NOE out there
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-Earth_object

 

[Taleweaver]

Something tells me that scientific proof isn't going to stop the nutbags who saw Armageddon in the end of the Mayan calendar to believe it actually WILL hit earth.

Of course, it'll be 2036. By then, they'll have probably have believed in at least two or three potential armageddon dates that turned out to be not true.

 

[Wizerzak]

2036, eh? We still have time to intercept it, attach ion thrusters to it, and ram it into the Earth?

If we make a rocket that travels at 171.36702 mph, then yes. Won't get back to earth for another 23 years though.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

I don't like animes, but, when asteroids are coming, I always remember this:

 

[pasc]

When we are talking anime why not also take in consideration anime-related-games.

Red Sun with its NASA-RipOff "NAXA". Lol you gotta laught at their neat attempt with the giant laser.

 

[Catastrophic]

I don't like animes, but, when asteroids are coming, I always remember this:

I don't even...

 

[Janthran]

I don't even...

Name+thread

 

[porkiewpyne]

I'll let you guys know when robots and monsters grow out of my forehead

 

[bowser]

Strangely I first read the topic title as:
"A Steroid Set to Narrow Miss Earth"

Didn't know there was a Miss Earth pageant now.

 

[McHaggis]

They believed that the 1,000 foot-wide asteroid had a chance (remote, sure, but still a chance nonetheless) of colliding with the planet in 2036.

1,000 foot-wide doesn't sound so big. If it were going to collide with Earth we'd be thankful it wasn't any meteor.

 

[Bladexdsl]

2036? by than we'll prob have invented a death ray that can blow it out of the sky

 

[jalaneme]

I will be 53 in 2036, I still don't care though :S maybe i won't live that long, who knows.

 

[Maxternal]

Considering that the sun is 93 million miles away Mars at it's closest is 35 million miles away and Venus at it's closest is only 26 million miles away, coming between 9 and 35 million miles from us is RELATIVELY close. At only 1,000 feet across, though, I doubt it'll even be visible to the naked eye at it's closest (the moon is less then 1/4 million miles away to put that in perspective.) I even wonder if it have made it to the ground had we actually crossed it's path. I'm not sure how much of those things burn up in the atmosphere on the way down but it's gotta be a lot. It might have made a good sized crater at the most but wipe everyone out? I don't think so.