Two *Asteroids* making a close approach Sept 8th, 2010

British Astronomical Association ^ | Sept 6th, 2010

[Musketeer]

This was made public information ONLY after it was confirmed the asteroids would not impact the earth.

We will be lied to till the very end.

[RepublicanMeansAmerican]

Bread, milk and batteries...maybe ammo.

[TaraP]

Exactly....

When the one that hits comes, we won’t have a clue.

[Army Air Corps]

What, no zombie repellant?

[M-cubed]

So...can u ‘splain what u think that means to us laymen on here...Doesn't have to be exactly scientific...just what u think it all amounts to?

[Ditter]

I am not sure I want to know.

[plain talk]

hey thanks for the info. not sure what a 15m asteroid would do if it made a direct hit in the middle of a city. My guess is there would be very limited damage and much would burn up before impact

[Las Vegas Dave]

Exactly.... When the one that hits comes, we won’t have a clue.

Hmmm?

Reminds me of the sifi movie “Starship Troopers”, wasn't Buenos Aires a direct hit, and caught all by surprise...?

[ZULU]

I hope one hits Mecca and the other one hits Medina.

[TaraP]

We had a Huge Fireball that struck Columbia yesterday, what does it mean? Well for one earth’s changes are not due to Man-Made Glo-bull Warmng that warrants a *Carbon Tax*

[Mmogamer]

Well if they hit, you’ll know it soon enough.

[Ted Grant]

I think I read somewhere that there is an asteroid that will have a close pass to Earth sometime this decade, and if it passes through a well defined 600 mile-or-so area (threading the needle), it will definitely strike Earth (the Pacific) sometime in the 2030s on a later pass.

[knarf]

I stole this from skydancer's page ...

You GO, Janey !

[Ted Grant]

I remembered it wrong - this describes Apophis, which will have a near miss in 2029 and if it threads the needle, will hit Earth in 2036.

[TaraP]

UPDATE NOTES

2009-Apr-29:
This animation illustrates how the unmeasured physical parameters of Apophis bias the entire statistical uncertainty region. If Apophis is a RETROGRADE rotator on the small, less-massive end of what is possible, the measurement uncertainty region will get pushed back such that the center of the distribution encounters the Earth’s orbit. This would result in an impact probability much higher than computed with the Standard Dynamical Model.

Conversely, if Apophis is a small, less-massive PROGRADE rotator, the uncertainty region is advanced along the orbit. Only the remote tails of the probability distribution could encounter the Earth, producing a negligible impact probability. Although measurements in 2010-2011 may cut the size of the measurement uncertainty region greatly and result in an “all clear” using the Standard Dynamical Model, it may not be until Arecibo radar in 2013 provides a spin direction that Earth’s passage through the probability distribution center can be ruled out.

[The Comedian]

"DC and LA. Amen."

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[Brilliant]

Only 8 meters in diameter? Might cause someone trouble if it hit, but would not be memorable.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

you mean it won't look like this?

[Manta]

Is there some chatter that the Siberian 1908 explosion was from an object this size?

[Mike Darancette]

We will have little warning about the one that gets us.