Asteroids

The Sleeper · 07-26-2002, 01:51 AM

Does anyone think an asteroid is gonna hit us in our lifetime?

AdolescentMasturbator · 07-26-2002, 01:53 AM

Well that asteroid that was reported on the BBC is extremely unlikely.

I don't want one because all the religious wackos will come out about the 2nd coming of christ and you must repent for your sins. If I'm going to die I don't want to deal with that in my last few days of life.

The Sleeper · 07-26-2002, 01:58 AM

I would find everyone cowering and freaking rather amusing. I'm pro-asteroid.

OAS · 07-26-2002, 02:00 AM

Was the BBC one the one that is supposed to hit in 2019?

AdolescentMasturbator · 07-26-2002, 02:03 AM

Yes oas it was.

But then again everyone would fuck like rabbits and not care about the consequences.

The Sleeper · 07-26-2002, 02:05 AM

I think our lives would be a lot more interesting if we lived to 30-40 rather than 70-80.

OAS · 07-26-2002, 02:08 AM

Quote:But then again everyone would fuck like rabbits and not care about the consequences.

Here ateroid, asteroid.

The 2019 one has potential but iffy. It will eventually happen. The dino's weren't to happy with the last one that hit.

AdolescentMasturbator · 07-26-2002, 02:12 AM

This is copied from arstechnica.com

Circling the news sites today are reports that we're all doomed. But don't run out and start looting just yet, because the "ETA" for a 2-kilometers-wide asteroid's impact with earth is reportedly February 1, 2019. The asteroid, currently named 2002 NT7, was only first sighted at the beginning of this month. Oddly, although we supposedly have a crash date (it's being reported everywhere), scientists have not yet calculated its trajectory in any reliable manner. In other words, the collision date is just silliness.

According to astronomers, NT7 will be easily observable for the next 18 months or so, meaning there is no risk of losing the object. Observations made over that period - and the fact that NT7 is bright enough that it is bound to show up in old photographs - mean that scientists will soon have a very precise orbit for the object.

2002 NT7 is not your average galaxy crossing asteroid. Nope, it's solar, circling the sun every 837 days, but at a highly inclined orbit (yes, I know most asteroids orbit something, and many orbit the sun).

"The error in our knowledge of where NT7 will be on 1 February, 2019, is large, several tens of millions of kilometres," he said.

The current Impact Risk Summary is available from NASA. According to that page, 2002 NT7 rates a 1 on the Torino scale, which means that it is rated as such:

The chance of collision is extremely unlikely, about the same as a random object of the same size striking the Earth within the next few decades.

The next level up is "A somewhat close, but not unusual encounter. Collision is very unlikely."

Gooch · 07-26-2002, 02:12 AM

2019 is a one in a million shot to hit us.

The Sleeper · 07-26-2002, 02:14 AM

damn

virgingrrl · 07-26-2002, 02:14 AM

eh, we are all going to die anyway.

Sean Cold · 07-26-2002, 02:29 AM

Quote:I think our lives would be a lot more interesting if we lived to 30-40 rather than 70-80.

Good job, by your logic, OAS would have died about twelve years ago, i like your idea, make it so.

The Sleeper · 07-26-2002, 02:30 AM

Hehe, I was waiting for someone to hit my lob out of the park.

Sean Cold · 07-26-2002, 02:32 AM

This is why i hear you were the bestest mod ever here.

Great set up, it was like a pitch in the home run derby.

OAS · 07-26-2002, 02:38 AM

Sean, respect you elders gah dammit!