What will you be doing February 15th, 2013? Watching an astroid pass by?

[FelixDeCat]

Asteroid 2012 DA14 to sweep close on February 15, 2013

A near-Earth asteroid – called 2012 DA14 by astronomers – will pass very close to Earth on February 15, 2013. Astronomers estimate that, when it’s closest to us, it’ll be within the orbit of the moon (which averages about a quarter million miles away), and closer than some high-orbiting communications satellites. 2012 DA14 will be about 17,200 miles (27,680 kilometers) away. It will not strike Earth in 2013. Astronomers’ calculations of asteroid orbits can be trusted. After all, even decades ago, they knew enough about calculating orbits to send people to the moon and bring them safely back, and today we are able place our space vehicles in orbit around objects as small as asteroids.

What do we know about asteroid 2012 DA14?
Asteroid 2012 DA14 is a little guy, compared to some asteroids, although its size has not been pinned down precisely. It is thought to be about 45 meters across (nearly 150 feet across), with an estimated mass of about 130,000 metric tons.

If a space object 150 feet wide were to strike our planet, it wouldn’t be Earth-destroying. But it has been estimated that it would produce the equivalent of 2.4 megatons of TNT. How does that compare with other known impact events on Earth? In 1908, in a remote part of Russia, an explosion killed reindeer and flattened trees. But no crater was ever found. Scientists now believe a small comet struck Earth. That event has been estimated at 3 to 20 megatons. So 2012 DA14 is in the same approximate realm as the Tunguska comet (which, actually, might have been an asteroid instead). It would not destroy Earth, but it could flatten a city.


The asteroid won’t be visible to the eye, but you can watch the February 15 asteroid flyby online, in real-time.


So, no, 2012 DA14 won’t strike us in 2013. There was a remote possibility it might strike us in 2020, but that possibility has been ruled out also.

 

[zinfamous]

I'll be lacing up my Nikes.

Is this the asteroid that Jesus rides on?

 

[phucheneh]

I'll be lacing up my Nikes.

Is this the asteroid that Jesus rides on?

He's in a spaceship following it, duh.

In that pic, is the ring referring to the geostationary ring around the equator?

Can they calculate precisely enough to know it won't t-bone a satellite? I mean, even if it misses the stuff in geostationary ring, there's a lotta space trash up there.

...where's that old abandoned nuclear reactor gonna be at? :awe:

 

[sixone]

7:30pm UK time is about 3:30pm eastern.

Most of us will be at work.

 

[BUTCH1]

Real question is, will the deflection it will receive during it's fly-by put it on collision course next time it comes around??..

 

[phucheneh]

No. Link was in OP:

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/2012da14.html

2080 is supposedly the earliest it could hit.

 

[sportage]

I hear that if you hold a match in your fingers high above your head just as it passes, the match will strike. Now THATS close!

 

[sjwaste]

That's awesome. I wonder if we'll have the technology to capture it by 2080.

 

[Newbian]

I will be in my secure underground bunker.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

No. Link was in OP:

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/2012da14.html

2080 is supposedly the earliest it could hit.

No problem, Skynet will rise up against humanity long before then. Maybe the asteroid will stop the robots.