End of Earth - 2013, not 2012?

[SassyLady]

Asteroid on course to hit Earth in February 2013.




http://rt.com/news/paint-asteroid-earth-nasa-767/

Blast it or paint it: Asteroid to threaten Earth in 2013


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http://rt.com/files/news/paint-asteroid-earth-nasa-767/years-site-tunguska-blast-559.n.jpg

A dangerous asteroid heading to the Earth was spotted by stargazers three years after it had got onto its current orbit



TAGS: Space (http://rt.com/tags/space/), SciTech (http://rt.com/tags/scitech/), Thrills&Spills (http://rt.com/tags/thrillsspills/)


To avert a possible catastrophe – this time set for February 2013 – scientists suggest confronting asteroid 2012 DA14 with either paint or big guns. The stickler is that time has long run out to build a spaceship to carry out the operation.
NASA's data shows the 60-meter asteroid, spotted by Spanish stargazers in February, will whistle by Earth in 11 months. Its trajectory will bring it within a hair’s breadth of our planet, raising fears of a possible collision.

The asteroid, known as DA14, will pass by our planet in February 2013 at a distance of under 27,000 km (16,700 miles). This is closer than the geosynchronous orbit of some satellites.
There is a possibility the asteroid will collide with Earth, but further calculation is required to estimate the potential threat and work out how to avert possible disaster, NASA expert Dr. David Dunham told students at Moscow’s University of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM).
“The Earth’s gravitational field will alter the asteroid’s path significantly. Further scrupulous calculation is required to estimate the threat of collision,” said Dr. Dunham, as transcribed by Russia’s Izvestia. “The asteroid may break into dozens of small pieces, or several large lumps may split from it and burn up in the atmosphere. The type of the asteroid and its mineral structure can be determined by spectral analysis. This will help predict its behavior in the atmosphere and what should be done to prevent the potential threat,” said Dr. Dunham.
In the event of a collision, scientists have calculated that the energy released would equate to the destructive power of a thermo-nuclear bomb.
In response to the threat, scientists have come up with some ingenious methods to avert a potential disaster.

[Mr. P]

It'll probably happen someday, but not next yr.


For the tl;dr crowd, let’s get this out of the way right away: asteroid 2012 DA14 is almost certainly not going to hit the Earth next February. And by "almost certainly", I mean it: the odds of an impact are so low they are essentially zero. This does not rule out an impact at some future date, but for now we’re safe.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/03/04/no-asteroid-2012-da14-will-not-hit-us-next-year/

[logroller]

As 2/3 of the Earth's surface is water-- odds are it'd hit the water.

Elsewhere in the universe, the Sun is growing angry-- spewing hot plasma, coined CME, short for coronal mass ejections almost directly at Earth-- you scared? Well you should be--it could cause GPS satellites to require resetting; possible induced charges in the grids (to which they have ample contingency plans) and here's the kicker-- it may slow down communication networks. Nooooo!

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/03/07/nasa-reports-that-solar-flare-could-disrupt-power-communications/
This afternoon, NASA estimated that the CMEs will collide with Earth at around 1:25 AM EST on the morning of March 8. When it collides with the Earth’s magnetic field, it will cause radioactive disruptions. Those disruptions, NASA warns, could affect high-frequency communications, interfere with GPS satellites, and could also potentially disrupt power grids. It should also create some stunning aurorae that might be visible in places that normally don’t get them.
:panicsmiley:

These types of flares aren’t the end of the world – bigger solar events have hit the Earth in recent years, and the harms are usually minor. There is a possibility that a powerful solar flare could cause serious harm to satellites, but such potential events are pretty rare. So if you’re out and around the time the CMEs hit, you might be lucky enough to catch an aurora, and you might not be able to post your location on Foursquare. But otherwise, life should go on pretty much as normal.

Phew. Thought I was gonna have to make some poison Koolaid.
Cool video-- I keep waiting for Jean Luc Piccard.."Space, the final frontier"


http://youtu.be/4xKRBkBBEP0

[PostmodernProphet]

on another board someone pointed out the Mayan civilization has been gone a long time....perhaps they meant 1012 and screwed up the math......

[SassyLady]

Because I have no water if the electricity is out, I filled my bathtubs and every available pot, pan, vase, pitcher with water yesterday. Pretty much prepared for everything else.... plenty of food, candles, heat ... but needed some extra water for cooking, etc. After all, need water to make that poison kookaid!

Amazingly, the power stayed on. And this is in an area where the power goes out for a couple of hours at least once a month, and trips off and then back on at least once a week. Can't tell you how many times I have to reset the clocks around here.

[logroller]

Because I have no water if the electricity is out, I filled my bathtubs and every available pot, pan, vase, pitcher with water yesterday. Pretty much prepared for everything else.... plenty of food, candles, heat ... but needed some extra water for cooking, etc. After all, need water to make that poison kookaid!

Amazingly, the power stayed on. And this is in an area where the power goes out for a couple of hours at least once a month, and trips off and then back on at least once a week. Can't tell you how many times I have to reset the clocks around here.
That's why I exclusively use sundials; save solar eclipses...and nighttime -- I'm totally prepared:laugh:

[logroller]

Because I have no water if the electricity is out, I filled my bathtubs and every available pot, pan, vase, pitcher with water yesterday. Pretty much prepared for everything else.... plenty of food, candles, heat ... but needed some extra water for cooking, etc. After all, need water to make that poison kookaid!

Amazingly, the power stayed on. And this is in an area where the power goes out for a couple of hours at least once a month, and trips off and then back on at least once a week. Can't tell you how many times I have to reset the clocks around here.
Kookaid..lol-- I just noticed that. Too funny SL.

[SassyLady]

Kookaid..lol-- I just noticed that. Too funny SL.


:slap:


Every now and then the Divine Spirit speaks through me!!!

[Dilloduck]

Help----I stared at the clip in post #3 too long and apparently now I'm blind. Were we supposed to use smoked glass to look at it with ?

[SassyLady]

Help----I stared at the clip in post #3 too long and apparently now I'm blind. Were we supposed to use smoked glass to look at it with ?

Sometimes Nature weeds out the weak and feeble minded in strange ways..........;)