Surely it will make a huge ka-boom!
Posted on 03/09/2023 7:50:50 AM PST by BenLurkin
First detected on Feb. 27, the asteroid dubbed 2023 DW is estimated to measure about 165 feet (50 meters) in diameter, or roughly the length of an Olympic-size swimming pool. The asteroid is expected to make a very close approach to Earth on Feb. 14, 2046; as of March 8, the European Space Agency's Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre(opens in new tab) predicts a 1-in-625 chance of a direct impact, although those odds are being recalculated daily.
"Often when new objects are first discovered, it takes several weeks of data to reduce the uncertainties and adequately predict their orbits years into the future," NASA tweeted. "Orbit analysts will continue to monitor asteroid 2023 DW and update predictions as more data comes in."
A meteor less than half the size of 2023 DW exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, generating a shock wave that damaged thousands of buildings and injured roughly 1,500 people.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
I say we land a little tiny spaceship on it. Drill a hole, drop a nuke into it, and blow the summbitch up
Surely it will make a huge ka-boom!
Will it hit Uranus???
What is the name of the asteroid belt the Earth passes through twice a year?
The Russian asteroid you mentioned came out of it.
There was a guy on Joe Rogan who believes several asteroids from that belt struck the glaciers during the last ice age (which were 2 miles thick), instantly melted them, and caused a worldwide flood.
I don’t know. Taurids are November from comet Encke debris. Persieds are August from Swift Tuttle I think.
Oh no. We’re all gonna die!!
That's the size that caused this:
An aerial view of the Barringer Crater/Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona. To get a scope of the size, note the building and scenic overlook on the upper left side of the crater's rim.
Actually, a meteor that size is similar to the one that hit Siberia in 1908. It would take a meteor miles wide to seriously impact everyone on Earth.
I for one welcome our new asteroid overlords.
I'm not going to lose sleep over an asteroid which might hit earth in 2046. More than 50% of the earth's surface is oceans so it may just cause a tsunami.
I went there 30 years ago. Of all the places I visited in AZ on that trip, this one was the most disappointing because we couldn’t walk down into the crater on account of “it’s a sensitive ecological environment and people contacting it would ruin it.” On the plus side, however, our tour of the crater was led by Ranger Rick.
bttt
Hit DC. Please. Hit. DC.
I didn’t say it would seriously impact everyone on Earth.
I said it wouldn’t be a local event.
The 1908 Tunguska event you refer to flattened an estimated 80 million trees over an area (830 sq mi) of forest.
In comparison Washington DC covers 68 square miles and San Francisco covers a land area of 46.9 square miles which means it wouldn’t have to be a direct hit to wipe out a whole city and would still be more than a local event.
We’re looking around the property for where to put in a small pool/jacuzzi so fingers crossed.
We/they used to call that Sunset Crater. For some years a guy owned the property and spent big bucks trying to find the meteorite digging everywhere.
I think the current conclusion is that it just vaporized upon impact so a few tourists walking around down there wouldn’t likely find anything or disturb “the environment” - rocks and dirt.
The local constabulary gets very excited if you drag a magnet over the rocks and dirt.
2046- I don’t expect to be around to see it hit or miss. But it is a good subject for testing a deflection attempt. Changing its orbit by fractions of a degree in the right direction would make it miss by tens of thousands or even millions of miles. A remotely controlled lander equipped with a small rocket motor should do the trick, nudging it into a safe trajectory.
If I live to see it, I’ll be 102...
Yes, we are. The only questions are when and how. Then comes the Judgement.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
