Bigger than Apophis: Dangerous 300+ meter asteroid to cross Earth orbit every 3 years

Russia Today.com ^ | December 07, 2014 19:42 | Staff

[Red Badger]

Scientists have calculated that 2014 UR116 asteroid will fly in dangerous proximity to Earth every three years. If it collides with the planet the energy of the explosion could be a thousand times greater than the impact of the Chelyabinsk meteorite.

Vladimir Lipunov, a leading scientist on the team which discovered the asteroid this October, says the scientists now know its orbit and its period which is 3 years, but they cannot say precisely when the asteroid will approach the Earth.

“We should track it constantly. Because if we have a single mistake, there will be a catastrophe. The consequences can be very serious,” he said in the documentary “Asteroids attack” posted on Roscosmos website.

The new asteroid, called 2014 UR116 is about 370 meters in diameter. Its size exceeds the famous Apophis which the Earth can meet in the next decade. The exact trajectory of 2014 UR116 is yet to be determined, but theoretically it may collide with the Earth, Mars or Venus. Its trajectory can fluctuate because of the gravitational pull of these planets.

Some specialists believe we can be sure for a certain period of time that no collision will happen. Viktoria Damm from the Siberian Geodesic Academy Planetarium told TASS news agency that when the asteroid flies near Mars, its trajectory may change. That’s why the time of approach is unknown but she believes it will not happen in the coming two years.

In case of a collision with the Earth the energy of the explosion could be a thousand times greater than the Chelyabinsk meteorite. When a meteorite burst above the city of Chelyabinsk in February 2013, the impact was estimated to be equivalent to 440-500 kilotons of TNT. But the Chelyabinsk meteorite was relatively small, about 17 meters in diameter and it disintegrated with a blast at an altitude of over 20 kilometers.

It is also important to define the composition of an asteroid. If it consists of stone it generally breaks into small parts, but metal asteroid can reach the surface of Earth, according to Stanislav Korotky, Ka Dar observatory scientific director. The famous Arizona crater is the track of a metal asteroid.

The Chelyabinsk meteorite prompted the scientists to fully engage in projects of space security. Russian space agency Roscosmos plans to work out a special system to stand against dangerous asteroids by 2025. The agency wants to use new technologies to change the orbits of asteroids, including different kinds of robots, for instance, robots-cleaners to take away the space rubbish from Earth orbit.

Meanwhile, NASA is working on projects Orbita@home and Spacewatch and plans to deploy The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in 2015.

The asteroid 2014 UR116 was discovered with the help of Russia's network of robotic telescopes which perform the sky survey without human direction and can create its own data bases.

[Red Badger]

1,000 times stronger than Chelyabinsk meteorite: New asteroid may threaten Earth

http://rt.com/news/201827-dangerous-asteroid-discovered-ur116/

[expat2]

Maybe the worry-worts will stop worrying about global warming and turn their full attention to this scare.

[Red Badger]

At night, October 27 Russian robotic telescope , located in the Caucasus Mountains near Kislovodsk, gave a suspicious rapidly moving object (see. picture below the text – between shots a few minutes). Denis Denisenko, a member team of craftsmen, sent it to the coordinates of the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union. 20 minutes later, the British astronomer confirmed our observation, and for the last two days, astronomers have conducted more than 100 measurements of this object.

Based on the data of the brilliance of the found object and distance calculated from observations of two dozen observatories in the world, we can say that the asteroid 2014 UR116 size exceeds Apophis with the Earth can meet in the next decade, that is, its diameter is greater than 300 meters.

Exact trajectory of the asteroid 2014 UR116 yet impossible to determine, but theoretically it could collide with the Earth, and Mars and Venus. The energy of the explosion, in the event of a collision with the Earth, a thousand times greater than the explosion of Chelyabinsk asteroid.

2014 UR116 – this is the third potentially dangerous asteroid, discovered masters. Two others – SW24 2013 and 2013 UG1 – were smaller 250 and 125 meters respectively. Much larger telescopes US, according to a news website laboratories missed the space object, because all his previous flyby of the Earth took place at the full moon, when the Giants antiasteroid system idle.

Frames of the moving image taken with an interval of several minutes.

- See more at:

http://www.cosmosup.com/dangerous-asteroid-rapidly-approaching-earth/#sthash.ca5mSFnz.dpuf

[Red Badger]

Could be something or nothing of course..............

[BigEdLB]

Actually I could think of a few places, if this thing hit there, it might make things better.

[556x45]

‘Meanwhile, NASA is working on projects Orbita@home and Spacewatch and plans to deploy The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in 2015.’

Really? I thought they were putting all their energies and $ into Moslem outreach and buying substandard boosters from Russia.

[Mastador1]

Well if they determine that is going to impact the Earth we’ll see a lot less atheists with every day of it’s approach.

[cripplecreek]

If its going to pass by the earth every 3 years, I’m going to assume its been doing so for a long time.

[NormsRevenge]

As they used to say frequently way back when..

INCOMING!!!

[NormsRevenge]

Over grand scales of time, I hear ya..

Besides, its not the only big chunker out there..

Just the latest tracked..

Who knows what lurks out in the shadows of Ooort?

[Red Badger]

... and buying substandard boosters from Russia.

That was Orbital Sciences Corp...............

[Red Badger]

Yes, but sooner or later the orbits must coincide..............

[jsanders2001]

> Maybe the worry-worts will stop worrying about global warming and turn their full attention to this scare.

This would definitely be a wee bit more harmful

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“Who knows what lurks out in the shadows of Ooort?”

The Mayans?

[BenLurkin]

will fly in dangerous proximity to Earth every three years."Will"?

Where has it been up until now?

[Sherman Logan]

We should track it constantly. Because if we have a single mistake, there will be a catastrophe.

Uhh, dude. Tracking it won't prevent a catastrophe unless we put in place a way to divert it from hitting.

Which we have the technology but not the will to do.

[Red Badger]

Loitering..............

[Red Badger]

I think if it were a possible danger to earth, we could do something like nuke it or whatever. At least nudge it into a safer orbit...............

[JimRed]

Is there a way to quietly nudge it into a strike on Mecca?