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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Asteroid may strike earth in october 2017 Started by vladzo Astronomers at the University of Texas fear an asteroid the size of the Statue of Liberty, that in 2012 came dangerously close to colliding with Earth, is once again on a path to crash into our planet - and whats worse, scientists have no idea where it might fall. Asteroid 2012 TC4, which narrowly avoided colliding with Earth in October 2012, is set to swing dangerously close to our planet for the second time. Researchers have speculated that this time, the celestial body could be as large as 40 meters wide, almost as large as the famed Statue of Liberty, and about twice the size of the meteor that exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February 2013 that injured 1,500 people and damaged more than 7,00 buildings. And experts concede they have no idea where the asteroid may strike. The giant space rock, which was discovered by a Hawaiian observatory and in 2012 missed Earth by only just short of 59,000 miles, is now expected to come close to our planet again in October 2017. Fortunately, many astronomers dont believe the asteroid will hit us and if it does, they say, it would just cause a bit of structural damage. "We could see an airburst maybe broken windows, depending on where it hits," University of Texas astronomer Dr. Judit Györgyey-Ries told space blog Giant Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs May Have Made Solid Earth Splash Like Water "There is a one in a million chance that it could hit us. The size was estimated from the brightness, but we don't know the reflectivity. So it could be smaller or larger, assume from 10 to 40 meters, said Detlef Koschny, the head of the Near Earth Space Objects (NEO) team at the European Space Agency. "A 40m iron object would go through the atmosphere and make a crater; a 10m rocky object would hardly be noticed. Experts at NASAs Asteroid Watch believe there is absolutely no chance the asteroid could hit Earth. But Dr. Györgyey-Ries insists more observations will be necessary before confirming that the meteor doesnt pose any threat. The 2012 TC4 was originally discovered by a Hawaiian observatory. It was thought that it was going to collide with Earth, but it narrowly avoided the planet by 59,000 miles. There are currently 1572 potentially hazardous asteroids (PHA) in our solar system, but none are on a confirmed collision course with our planet. Read more: sputniknews.c...l#ixzz3Y432Eq9X www.bing.com/...7C1DE2C3CCE9B1F By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor A mountain-sized asteroid which crosses paths with the Earth every three years has been discovered by a Russian scientist. Vladimir Lipunov, a professor at Moscow State University, said the space rock, named '2014 UR116', poses no immediate threat. But he warned that it could hit the Earth with an explosion 1,000 times greater than the surprise 2013 impact of a bus-sized meteor in Russia. That object entered Earths atmosphere over the city of Chelyabinsk, resulting in a series of ferocious blasts that blew out windows and damaged buildings for miles around. Prof Lipunov said it is difficult to calculate the orbit of big rocks like '2014 UR116' because their trajectories are constantly being changed by the gravitational pull of other planets And he warns that its existence proves how little scientists know about other asteroids which could cause harm to the planet. "We need to permanently track this asteroid, because even a small mistake in calculations could have serious consequences," he said. Of 100,000 near-Earth objects which can cross our planet's orbit and are large enough to be dangerous, only about 11,000 have so far been tracked and cataloged. However NASA warned that '2014 UR116' did not pass close enough to the Earth to be considered a threat. "While this approximately 400-meter-sized asteroid has a three-year orbital period around the sun and returns to the Earth's neighborhood periodically, it does not represent a threat because its orbital path does not pass sufficiently close to the Earth's orbit," NASA's Near Earth Object Program Office said in a statement. NASA said that computer models showed that the asteroid would be an impact threat for at least 150 years. Last week scientists from across the world came together to warn that asteroids could wipe out humanity unless more effort is made to track and destroy them. Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, Brian Cox, and Richard Dawkins are among more than 100 experts calling for the creation of a huge asteroid detection system to prevent a doomsday scenario. The ancients were correct in their belief that the heavens and the motion of astronomical bodies affect life on Earth - just not in the way they imagined," said Lord Rees. Sometimes those heavenly bodies run into Earth. This is why we must make it our mission to find asteroids before they find us. Systems are already in place to track large asteroids, but recent research suggests that rocks as small as 164 feet across would still be big enough to cause devastating results on Earth. "NASA has done a very good job of finding the very largest objects, the ones that would destroy the human race, said Ed Lu, an astronaut who flew three trips to the International Space Station. Its the ones that would destroy a city or hit the economy for a couple of hundred years that are the problem. Edited by vladzo A video from the Russian Space Agency looks at a potential collision between Earth and a 'mountain-sized' asteroid. Moscow A Russian astrophysicist says his team has located a huge, mountain-sized asteroid whose orbit crosses the Earth's every three years. Even though experts say the giant object, known as 2014 UR116, poses no immediate threat of collision, its unexpected discovery underscores how little is still known about asteroids and their unpredictable orbits. Vladimir Lipunov, a professor at Moscow State University, announced the find in a short documentary, "Asteroid Attack," posted on the website of the Russian Space Agency on Sunday. Mr. Lipunov says the asteroid, which he calculates is 370 meters in diameter, could hit the Earth with an explosion 1,000 times greater than the surprise 2013 impact of a bus-sized meteor in Russia. That object entered Earths atmosphere over the city of Chelyabinsk, resulting in a series of ferocious blasts that blew out windows and damaged buildings for miles around. In the film, Lipunov says it's difficult to calculate the orbit of big objects like 2014 UR116 because, as they hurtle through the solar system, their trajectories are constantly being altered by the gravitational pull of nearby planets. "We need to permanently track this asteroid, because even a small mistake in calculations could have serious consequences," he said. There is little indication that this particular asteroid could hit the Earth in the next few decades, though over a much longer period a collision looks quite likely, says Natan Esmant, an expert with the official Space Research Institute in Moscow. A more serious issue, he says, is the estimated 100,000 near-Earth objects, such as asteroids and comets, which can cross our planet's orbit and are large enough to be dangerous. Only about 11,000 have so far been tracked and cataloged. "Every couple of days new ones are being discovered," he says. "Scientists have increasingly powerful tools to do this work, but there's a lot still to be done. Every object that crosses the Earth's path can be a potential threat." Since the Chelyabinsk meteor, which came as a complete surprise to experts, scientists have been warning about the danger and trying to pool their data in order to get a clearer picture of the swarms of debris that are lurking in space. Scientists use conventional telescopes, radar and infrared detectors to hunt asteroids. The first satellite specifically designed to identify asteroids was launched last year. A movement of scientists, astronauts, musicians, and business people have launched a campaign to dramatize the danger and seek ways of protecting Earth from what seems like an inevitable destructive collision. They declared June 30, 2015, the world's first Asteroid Day. Poster Comment: Should press for release of US military's anti-gravity technology so it can be considered for meteor diversion. 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#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
What..... huh??? Wow! www.youtube.com/watch? v=VPFSyokDrec (Anybody but me hate the whole Rockyverse? Meant to warn yawl, I'm a tad opinionated :-)
Women and minorities hardest hit... "We need more H-1B visas, because source code is rotting in the fields." - Countenance Blog
ROTF!!! Think the ABC agencies and SJWs will demand special protections and grants to them? Speshly if black, brown or kosher. (Things people do instead of acknowledging and fighting the Jue takeover #65347, esp the rich -- collect all 866578545768)
What garbage! It was 94,800 km away at it closest point so based on the cross- sectional areas of that distance vs the diameter of the earth the odds of it hitting earth was very small. If it continues on a similar path, maybe in a million years there is a 50% chance of it hitting the earth. Even if it does hit the earth, it is not that big a deal certainly not humanity life threatening since the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was about 100 times as massive.
I expect orbits of asteroids are ever changing due to gravitational influences, collisions with other space objects. Warnings are a good way to keep research money coming in.
I have a memory of these critters roaming the countryside in which I was brought up; don't know if it's from a dream or a paranormal vision of things past.
Wild! Tell us more. What countryside? What are the chances it's a movie you saw.
West-central Alberta. Rarely went to movies. Associated the dinos with the geography of my countryside. Fortunately they were herbivorous giants and no doubt foraged in the area millions of years ago.
Are you sure you didn't see any monster flicks or TC shows? I don't know how old you are.
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