Giant asteroid set to narrowly miss Earth (Yahoo News)

[#98QBKiller]

All it takes is one and we're back to the Stone Age.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/giant-aster...iss-earth.html

Giant asteroid set to narrowly miss Earth


A giant asteroid will only just miss earth later this year, according to NASA.

The huge rock, dubbed YU55, will pass within 201,700 miles of our planet in November.

If it crashes into earth the impact would be equivalent to 65,000 atomic bombs, while the crater would be six miles wide and 2,000 ft deep.

The asteroid, which weighs 55 million tons and is 1,300ft wide, will be the largest ever object to get so close to our planet. It orbits the sun every 14 months.

[Related story: NASA probe shows Einstein theory was correct]

It will be closer to us than the moon, which is on average 238,855 miles away and will be visible through a small telescope.

The best times to view it will be between 23:28 on 8 November and 07:13 on 9 November (UK time).

According to NASA spokesman Dave Yeomans, there is no chance YU55 will crash into earth… for the time being. He said in statement: “YU55 poses no threat of an Earth collision over, at the very least, the next 100 years.”

He added: “During its closest approach, its gravitational effect on the Earth will be so minuscule as to be immeasurable. It will not affect the tides or anything else.”

Nonetheless, it has been officially labeled a ‘potentially hazardous object’ by the space agency.

YU55 was discovered by Robert McMillan, head of the NASA-funded Spacewatch Program at the University of Arizona in 2005, but it’s not the only ‘near-earth object’ they are monitoring.

NASA are also keeping tabs on WN5, an asteroid that will pass the planet in 2028, and ‘99942 Apophis’, a celestial body measuring 1,200 ft which could zoom past us on April 13 2036.

They also believe an even bigger asteroid has a one-in-a-thousand chance of colliding with earth in 2182.

---------- Post added May-5th-2011 at 11:47 PM ----------

[heyholetsgogrant]

[/COLOR]

caps lose and now this...

[FanboyOf91]

We're just as screwed if it hits the moon.

[RichmondRedskin88]

Damn you asteroid!!! You could have gotten me out of my finals.

[Goingforburgundy]

We're just as screwed if it hits the moon.

What would happen exactly minus a change in tides and darker nights

[aamiha73]

We're just as screwed if it hits the moon.

Good point. I wonder why there's never any movies about THAT?

[DM72]

What would happen exactly minus a change in tides and darker nights

I think it would screw up the gravity.

[aamiha73]

Giant asteroid hits moon. Moon hits earth. Game over man. Game over.

[RichmondRedskin88]

I think it would screw up the gravity.

Nah unless the explosion then impacted Earth. The moon getting screwed would just affect gravity on the oceans. Basically our waves would go down considerably.

---------- Post added May-6th-2011 at 12:26 AM ----------

Giant asteroid hits moon. Moon hits earth. Game over man. Game over.

Since when was the Moon a ping pong ball?

[DM72]

Nah unless the explosion then impacted Earth. The moon getting screwed would just affect gravity on the oceans. Basically our waves would go down considerably.[COLOR="Gold"]

What about the Earth's orbit. Would that be affected?

[RichmondRedskin88]

What about the Earth's orbit. Would that be affected?

Only if the force of the explosion pushed the Earth out of its orbit. If the asteroid hits the Moon(which would destroy it) then we get showered in pieces. The explosion would have to have enough force to fight the Sun's gravity on Earth. That's alot of force to push the Earth out of orbit.

[aamiha73]

Since when was the Moon a ping pong ball?

Sci-fi movies tell me so. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

I hopped on a random physics board and the consensus seemed that if an asteroid hit the moon from the opposite side and then actually caromed into earth, it would have to be so gigantic and hit the moon with such force that there would be nothing, absolutely nothing we could do about it.

I smell Armageddon II.

[AsburySkinsFan]

Crap....looks like the Mayans were right.

[thebluefood]

Well, guys, it's been real.

[China]

He added: “During its closest approach, its gravitational effect on the Earth will be so minuscule as to be immeasurable. It will not affect the tides or anything else.”

Nothing to see here folks, move along.

They also believe an even bigger asteroid has a one-in-a-thousand chance of colliding with earth in 2182.

I plan to be long dead by then as I imagine my kids and grandkids will be, so I couldn't care less about this one.