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.”
Great book by the way! Lucifer’s Hammer
Nice description of the Obama Administration, too.
Yea, just strap a axe handle to your butt and you won’t fall in.
Here she says she wants to legalize drugs but doesn’t know all the ramifications of that. She also wants safer guns and safer bullets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqbB4kFtVZU
This is serious stuff!
Just think how serious it would be if it were to hit your house while you were in the shower.
Not laughing anymore, are you?
o-kay...but why is that so important?
In case you get into an accident.
what do you mean "in case I get into an accident"?
What good would clean underwear do for me then?
What if I died in the accident?
How would the condition of underwear make any difference?
We wouldn't want anyone to think you didn't come from a good home.
Within 6 million miles... can we take a detour for a burger?
Isn’t there a song about this?
“Six million miles, six million miles you can hear it whistle by six million miles. Lord, I’m one, Lord I’m two, Lord I’m three, Lord I’m six, Lord I’m six million miles away from Earth...” Something like that, anyway...
Do you suppose mass extinctions might only get the race baiters and Liberals-
one can wish
I have gotten a little over halfway thru the book, and so far the movie depicted practically nothing that was in it, other than boot camp, which, according to the book, was much more tougher and intense than the it portrayed...................................
Although the shower scenes and the sex scene towards the end were OK in the movie. It did have a few “redeeming” values. But, if they made a movie from the book they would have to re-name it.
Don’t know if I know that one, but how’s this...
Teardrops fell on mama’s note
When I read the thing she wrote
She said, “We miss you son
We love you, come on home”
Well I didn’t have to pack
I had it all right on my back
Now I’m 500 miles away from home
Away from home, away from home
Cold and tired and all alone
Yes I’m 500 miles away from home
I know this is the same road
I took the day I left home
But it sure looks different now
Well I guess I look different too
‘Cause time changes everything
I wonder what they’ll say
When they see their boy looking this way
Oh I wonder what they’ll say when I get home
Can’t remember when I ate
It’s just thumb and walk and wait
And I’m still 500 miles away from home
If my luck had been just right
I’d be with them all tonight
But I’m still 500 miles away from home
Away from home, away from home
Cold and tired and all alone
Yes I’m still 500 miles away from home
Oh I’m still 500 miles
500 Miles away from Home - Bobby Bare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s6IccNRfjM
Actually, this one is far more appropriate here...
2000 Light Years From Home - Rolling Stones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSR5A—rSOs
This thing is missing us by 6 million miles. That is well beyond the orbit of the moon (roughly a quarter million miles), which is my outer marker for anything that "nearly misses" earth.
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Another way to think of this is that the rock is missing us by 757.7 earth diameters. That isn’t even vaguely close.
Titles aren’t copyright protected.....................
No...I meant that if the remade the movie they would want to change the title so it would not be confused with the POS made in the past. No for legal purposes! Ha ha.
Tag-along asteroid fragments, a much more legitimate concern, since the main event is about 40 times farther away than the moon. On the other hand it might be interesting to watch the moon and see if anything hits there. Also, will the moon be nearer or farther from the asteroid at the critical days?
NASA says an asteroid (or fragment) needs to be “one to two kilometers” to do widespread damage.
It’ll only be about 22 times lunar distance this pass. Someone has taken the time to figure out the next 8000 (Earth) years of orbits for the object, but basically, it’s only in the neighborhood once every 15 years, and passes about 6 million miles away at the closest. Also, it’s not a mile (which was obvious in the excerpt) but between 680 meters and 1 km in diameter.
http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/1999FN53/1999FN53_planning.html
Nice of NASA to be so reassuring, but an object one mile in diameter would end civilization and kill 99 percent of humans.
The rock that produced 3/4 mile wide Barringer Crater in AZ is estimated to have been 150-160 feet across. If a similar object struck any city today, it would not only create such a crater, the energy from it would knock down everything for miles and very likely kill everyone even further away.
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