Posted on 05/12/2015 7:08:14 AM PDT by Red Badger
A COLOSSAL asteroid hurtling through space is feared to be one of the biggest EVER to threaten a collision with Earth.
The gigantic missile thought to measure almost a mile across will brush closer than previous monsters which have sparked a global panic.
Worried astronomers warned 1999 FN53, which is an eighth of the size of Mount Everest, will skim the Earth in TWO DAYS.
A collision would be nothing short of catastrophic triggering mass destruction, earthquakes and global extinction.
The monster is more than TEN TIMES bigger than other meteorites currently visible on NASA’s Near Earth Object radar.
It is also double the size of the gargantuan 2014-YB35 which had astronomers around the world watching the skies in March.
Experts warn a collision would trigger an explosion similar to millions of megatons of TNT and would be capable of killing 1.5 billion people.
It would be far more destructive than the 1908 Tunguska Event which saw a 50-metre lump of extraterrestrial rock crash into Siberia.
It flattened around 80 million trees and sent a shock wave across Russia measuring five on the Richter scale.
The event is held by scientists as a benchmark for the catastrophic consequence of an asteroid impact with earth.
The gigantic lump of rock is travelling faster than 30,000 mph and will brush terrifyingly close to Earth on Thursday.
Bill Napier, professor of astronomy at the University of Buckinghamshire, said an impact would leave unimaginable destruction.
He said: “People are concerned about an impact from a very large asteroid, and the impact of something of this scale would be nothing short of global.
“It is certainly one of the biggest on the radar, and much bigger than the Tunguska asteroid which was one of the most significant in history.
“This is in a completely different ball park, we are talking about millions of megatons of energy, vastly more than was released in Hiroshima.
“It would undoubtedly lead to the deaths of around 1.5 billion people, we are looking at a mass extinction of humanity.
“To understand the impact of something on this scale, you would have to look to the science fiction writers, it is incomprehensible.”
The asteroid is currently hurtling around the Earth fifty times faster than a jumbo jet and double the speed of a space rocket.
Though several million miles away astronomers fear a slight deviation from its orbit will put it on a headlong collision course with the planet.
Professor Napier said: “It is a bit like shooting through a key hole.
“All being well this one is far enough away not to do us any harm, but people are concerned because you just don’t know."
If it were to strike the sea it would send a plume of halogen gasses into the stratosphere destroying the ozone layer, he said.
He added: “This would allow unrestricted sunlight hit the Earth, the sky would heat up becoming strong enough to burn vegetation.
“It would also put a lot of water into the stratosphere with these effects ultimately leading to a mass extinction.”
NASA’s Near Earth Object Programme puts the enormous lump of rock on course to pass within six million miles of Earth on May 14.
In astronomical terms this is a tiny distance and close enough to prompt astronomers to keep an eye on it until is passes safely.
Its exact size is still unclear though it is estimated to be between 580 metres and 1.3km wide - most likely around 680 metres.
In a statement NASA said: “1999 FN53 was discovered on 1999 Mar 31 by the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search (LONEOS).
“It has an absolute magnitude of 18.3 suggesting a diameter within a factor of two of 680 metres but otherwise its physical properties are poorly known.
“The asteroid will approach Earth…on 2015 Mar 14.”
That distance to the moon comparison actually helps a lot in getting perspective. In that way, the asteroid will “likely” pass at a distance that is 25 times further than the distance from the moon. Yep, I’m not worried.
RB; Thanks for posting! I enjoy reading these stories, even if its end of the world fiction. Its a sort of apocalyptic fun. It takes you out of the mundane everyday into the of mass extinction and release from all daily responsibilities. The idea of no more bills, no job, go lay in an empty field and watch the big show in the sky!
For anyone that gets this far; Here are some good sites to bookmark in your Science/astronomy section.
285331 (1999 FN53)
Discovered 1999-Mar-31 by LONEOS at Anderson Mesa
2015-May-14 approach distance. 0.0678 AU // 26.4 LD; Size- Estimated diameter 580 m - 1.3 km // visual magnitude; 18.3 (= magnitude 18 star) // 13.73 Kilometers/sec
AU = ~150 million kilometers
1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers
and
(Has nice orbital graphics. They don’t list 1999 FN53 in the list of near earth flybys)
and
http://www.minorplanetcenter.org/iau/lists/Dangerous.html
Good catch.
No kidding! And then there's that huge white asteroid that shows up almost every night a mere quarter of a million miles away. It's so close the gravity makes tides in my bathwater.
Lucifer’s Hammer!!!
One of my thoughts was that “this inevitability (not necessarily this object, but some object) ought to put so-called ‘global warming’ into perspective.”
AND
There’ll be NO PALESTINIAN STATE!.......................
The gigantic missile thought to measure almost a mile across will brush closer than previous monsters which have sparked a global panic.
Really? Global panic? What?
Finally.
Yes but to put that into perspective if you were to scale that down to automobile close call collisions then if one of the cars had another coat of paint they would have collided.
You wouldn't know it by the title......" as experts warn of MASS EXTINCTION"
Color my automobile paint dubious.
2015 Mar 14 was two months ago.
Typo..................
Ah, well. We all have to die sometime, it might be exciting to go out with a bang. I invite everyone to review their relationship with God while they still have the chance. Good-bye!
Yeah, who knew the Earth was only five miles across?
It's smaller on the outside than it is on the inside.
She was just joslin ya.
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