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Apophis Asteroid of doom is actually 75% larger than we thought...

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Naming it Anubis would've been more appropriate.

Kdr7P.gif
 

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
75% larger!!?? That means the extra diameter mixed with insignificantly small changes in gravitational interaction will cause the asteroid to come 0.000000002183% closer to hitting us!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
It won't hit but I imagine the worst outcome is tsunamis, since the majority of the Earth is water. That would mean evacuating the coast lines of the area of impact, the main issue would be would the crater effecting the global sea level.

But this is pointless since the the likelihood of this happening is almost impossible.
 

Dead Man

Member
17 Tsars is fucking insane. Not humanity-destroying powerful, but whatever country gets hit by that would experiene severe damage and God knows how many casualties.

Just hope it lands on land, if it hit the pacific it would destroy a lot of population centres.
 

Woorloog

Banned
How realistic would it be to fire a nuke at it and move it an inch off course?

Not a good idea without knowing enough about the thing. It might split in multiple pieces if it is hollow or porous.

Safer to strap a rocket engine to it and have it slowly push it away.
 

Valnen

Member
Not a good idea without knowing enough about the thing. It might split in multiple pieces if it is hollow or porous.

Safer to strap a rocket engine to it and have it slowly push it away.

Would be cool if we could just push it directly into some planet we don't care about so we don't have to ever think about it again.
 

slit

Member
I don't believe it.

If they were wrong with their estimation this time, why should I be confident in their estimations far into the future?

2029 NASA: oops, our calculations were a little off. Brace for impact, sorry guys!

Not only that but what if they're lying? Just to keep people from panicking when the time arrives.
 
This was talked about on the star gazing live on the BBC this week, pretty much ruling out a hit in 2036, this was from the data they gathered last weekend i think, worth having a look at. As for "moving" it, they could just paint one side balck or white to get the sun to push it out of the way (very loose terms). Anyway are we not supposed to get hit this feb by a 60M asteroid or something?
 

pestul

Member
Would it? Is a 850MT impact enough to create mega tsunamis? I'm not really sure about that.

Probably if it hits close to shore, but I highly doubt a mid-ocean impact would result in coastal mega-tsunamis. Do we know what Apophis is composed of? Hard (iron) or more brittle? That would a big difference if impact were to occur.
 

Dead Man

Member
Would it? Is a 850MT impact enough to create mega tsunamis? I'm not really sure about that.

If it was close the coast of say, California, or landed in the waters of Indonesia, it wouldn't necessarily have to create a mega tsunami, just a normal one would suffice. Then again, a surface impact, half the energy would go directly into the atmosphere, right? Maybe anywhere in the ocean is better.
 

Paradicia

Member
It's a scary prospect, even more so knowing that it could hit earth in just 16 years. How would we even stop an impact?
 

industrian

will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
17 Tsars is fucking insane. Not humanity-destroying powerful, but whatever country gets hit by that would experiene severe damage and God knows how many casualties.

I'm hoping that if it did hit land and a major population centre then it'd be the spark needed for humans to start caring about each other and to get our shit together on a global scale.

But back here in reality I know it would basically be like the Katrina SNAFU on a much larger scale.

Let's capture it in orbit and build a nightclub on it.

Let's hope it's easier to get to than the club on Hale–Bopp.
 
So it'll probably miss in 2036, too... then what? This fucker isn't just going to just disappear, is it? Is earth going to drag it in gradually after many passes or will Jupiter or whatever suck it up like it does to most of these things?
 

legacyzero

Banned
So it'll probably miss in 2036, too... then what? This fucker isn't just going to just disappear, is it? Is earth going to drag this thing in or will Jupiter or whatever suck it up like it does to most of these things?

I certainly hope so. I dont wanna become a Doomsday Prepper any time soon.
 

pestul

Member
Hum would Europe be heavily damaged if it fell in West Africa or in Siberia?
I know that's a terribly selfish question :(

Nah, I don't see any scenario based on that trajectory where Europe has to worry much. Maybe a small tsunami if it were to hit before Africa off the coast. Beyond that, a Northern Hemisphere hit may release some nasty shit from where ever it hit that could effect air quality or crops for a few seasons. Beyond that.. no one really knows what would happen.
 

industrian

will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
I certainly hope so. I dont wanna become a Doomsday Prepper any time soon.

Looking at that map, being a Prepper looks incredibly easy. Just go on vacation in South Africa.

But if you happen to live in the USA, the easiest way to prep would be simple: Don't be in the USA when shit goes down. There's so many idiots with guns who'd easily go from "defending my home" to "aut Caesar aut nihil" in no time with no functioning police or army to stop them.
 

Emerson

May contain jokes =>
I so hope this thing flies over Europe when it crosses us. I want to see this thing in all it's magnificent glory.

I can't imagine the pass will be all that exciting to behold. It's ridiculously close by cosmic standards, but we're still talking about a 1000 foot object over 20,000 miles away.
 

i-Lo

Member
I am guessing the universe is sending a message that it's tired of humans and our deplorable actions against ourselves to enrich the lives of few at the cost of many more and ravaging the planet at the same time, all the while possessing intelligence to steer ourselves in a different direction. But when power and with it control shifts too greatly the only equalizer that works is something that no one can prevent or defend against, collateral damage notwithstanding.

Planet earth's citizens are getting closer to Sith than our noble portrayal in Star Trek.

Well at least that's what I'd like to believe.
 

Drazgul

Member
Hum would Western Europe be heavily damaged if it fell in West Africa or in Kazakhstan?
I know that's a terribly selfish question :(

You wouldn't even notice. If it hits land, the effects would be devastating, but only locally - like within a 50km radius or so. At 100km you'd just feel some earthquake.
 
A thousand feet... just take a minute and imagine how small that is yet how colossal an impact it would have. 1000 feet = 0.19 miles, one fifth of a mile. A healthy person could run that distance in a little over a minute. That small of an asteroid could change our planet for decades. Can you imagine? Holy mackerel.
 
I am guessing the universe is sending a message that it's tired of humans and our deplorable actions against ourselves to enrich the lives of few at the cost of many more and ravaging the planet at the same time, all the while possessing intelligence to steer ourselves in a different direction. But when power and with it control shifts too greatly the only equalizer that works is something that no one can prevent or defend against, collateral damage notwithstanding.

Planet earth's citizens are getting closer to Sith than our noble portrayal in Star Trek.

Well at least that's what I'd like to believe.

Bad things happen to good people all the time. Nature doesn't give a shit about us. Plagues kill the noble with the cruel. A tornado makes no moral judgments as it ravages a community.
 

i-Lo

Member
Bad things happen to good people all the time. Nature doesn't give a shit about us. Plagues kill the noble with the cruel. A tornado makes no moral judgments as it ravages a community.

Precisely, the collateral damage I spoke of pertains to good people and other creatures. Good but powerless people. Powerless in a closed system because their power is in the hands of a few who would do everything to keep it that way. It's hoarding in its basic form and is a product of our evolution. And you know what they say about power.

Most of the days when I watch news like TYT, I see the injustice around the world and the first things that pop to my head are "What!?" and "Why?".

You're right. Nature doesn't doesn't really give a shit and if anything, humans through our advancement are almost like an anomaly compared to nature and other creatures (on earth at least).

But, and I remember this quote from Batman Begins, "When a forest grows too wild a purging fire is inevitable and natural". So while I am putting a human and moral spin on why the universe chucked an asteroid at us, statistically speaking, we have been due for an asteroid collision for a while now. The last extinction level one was about 65 million years ago and in that regard, Apophis doesn't look to bring about an end of that sort.
 

Zapages

Member
On a more serious note, wasn't it suppose to come back in 13 years after that. That is when it was suppose to come seriously close to hit Earth... 2036 wasn't scary date the 13 years afterwards was suppose to be.
 
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