Asteroid Apophis 99942

McZiderRed

McZiderRed

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As you may be aware, there was a slight concern about an asteroid, approx 900 feet across, that could smash into Earth in 2036. However, a recent "fly by" by the asteroid, about 9 million miles away, allowed scientists to track it and revise it's projected orbit.

So, the prospect of mass extinction by asteroid collision in 2036 has been downgraded to... um, business as usual. Whatever that may entail in 2036... (where's "Tomorrow's World"* when you need it!:rolleyes: )

Here's an article from a respectable sounding website >> Sky and Telescope Article

Everyone can breathe a big sigh of relief..! :yesss:

Until 2068, that is! That's the new projected collision date! :wave:

Am I worried? No. 'Cos I'll be 98 yrs old then! (If I live that long..) Although all you young 'uns might want to start your panic buying now. Beat the rush, an all that...

Of course, all this is assuming that there aren't any other near Earth objects just queuing up to collide with us... :thinking:

* The BBC-TV series
 
The big unknowable in projections such as this is how the asteroid's orbit may be altered should it encounter any sizable object during its journey.
 
Just passing by another "space rock" several times its own mass would be enough to alter its trajectory slightly.

If I remember correctly, the asteroid will pass inside the orbits of geosynchronous satellites in 2029!
 
well mabe the end of the world wouldn't be a bad thing.
I remember when I was a wee kid I read in some encyclopedia about the sun reaching the end of its life and I used to feel a distinct sense of pride. I was thinking, no longer will we live off a dull and boring, nothingy-type star. I imagined myself shouting at the rest of the univere, who had until then been sniggering at us:
"Hey look at us ya muckers, we're a bloody great red giant now!!! That's right! You're not laughing at us now ARE YOU??!!!" :twisted:
 
It may not be the Near Earth Objects that we know about, that are the greatest concern. Given enough of a heads-up, the boffins will concoct a plan to save us. As long as we know about it early enough...
fingerscrossed.gif


It's the bloomin' great big lump of space rock that appears on the "horizon", probably about as far away as Jupiter, before we even know it's coming to pay us a visit!

Not that I'm worried..! :unsure:
 
I don't really know about these things but the article says...
"The 2068 impact probability for Apophis is now one in 189,000,"
Click to expand

So it's bloody unlikely, and considering we know about it and have 50 years to think about it I'm sure we could blow it up in to much smaller pieces or knock it off course if necessary... given governments around the world give money to the right people at the right time to do it.

Having said that, in particle physics you don't usually accept something with confidence until you get to odds of around 1 in 3 million... so you could choose to worry about this only being 1 in 189,000 if you like.
 
Isn't it supposed to come within 20,000 miles? That sounds bloody close when we are used to hearing of things in space being light years away. I'm not one to panic, but y'know, forewarned is forearmed and all that.

With all these bods talking about mining asteroids, perhaps we have the technology under development. I would hate to find out with, say a year or two to go, that we had to cobble something together to save the earth. Invest ahead of demand. Maybe. Hopefully. People can be quite short-termist at times...!
 
I am not sure that they are equally possible Mephistopheles. There is a possibility that all the atoms in the asteroid will scatter to the far reaches of the universe too. I'll go for that option, I may even put some money on it with the bookies, I bet I get really good odds!!!
 
One very real concern for the future, and something they can verify in worrying detail, is the gradual erosion of our magnetic field, which appears to be weakening at a far more rapid rate than estimates from only a few years ago. We could go the way of Mars.
 
Yes but what if everything that can possibly happen actually does happen, for instance when I was seventeen I had a motorcycle accident that nearly killed me (In fact my heart did stop beating on the operating table several times.) but what if I only survived in this reality which is the only reality I am conscious of, what if in another reality I actually died and so if you get killed all that happens is you jump to another dimension where you don't get dead..

And so if the big bugger does hit all we will know is that it missed.....

What have you got to say about that Mr The Pits eh eh :p
 
According to the book I am reading, written by people far more intelligent than me (I.e. most people) anything that can happen does happen.

The truth is though, that reality is far stranger than anything you could dream up.
 
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