2036

[Hellbent]

http://www.yahoo.com/_ylt=Aqm4QBRJAHml2i4UOo8EN2uevZx4;_ylu=X3oDMTIxbWEyMjZ2BGNwb3MDMwRlZAMxBGcDaWQtNjcwMTMEaW50bAN1cwRzZWMDaW5fbmV3cwRzbGsDbndzLXRpdGxlBHRlc3QDNzAx/SIG=13lhro6vl/EXP=1297207236/**http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110206/sc_space/willapophishitearthin2036nasarejectsrussianreport

Will Apophis hit Earth in 2036? NASA rejects asteroid report

I didn't read the article, but how concerned would you be if a comet was reported to be scheduled to "rendezvous" with Earth in 2036? I think I'd probably be pretty optimistic about it being diverted by then or obliterated or what have you. I don't think I'd lose sleep on it. Hard to say tho.

[Maes]

Well, 2012 will strike way before that, so why worry?

[printz]

I had read about 2036 on a Wikipedia year article a few months ago. I'm slightly worried that I see this point mentioned again. But anyway, it's all about forecasting here, and the inaccuracy makes it negligible.

[Remilia Scarlet]

At least we won't have to deal with the Year 2038 problem.

[Jimmy]

that chance is just 1-in-250,000, Yeomans said.

We're probably safe.

Also, I find this little snippet interesting:

“Technically, they’re correct, there is a chance in 2036 [that Apophis will hit Earth]," said Donald Yeomans

Why'd they edit that part? Was his wording of the phrase "the comet may impact the planet" a bit too sciencey? ...Or he could've been saying something entirely different. :P

[Maes]

Partition36 said:

At least we won't have to deal with the Year 2038 problem.

Like there aren't enough 2011 problems already in the world.

[magicsofa]

I would hope to God Almighty that the object would impact earth and cleanse this foul realm of its infection: humans

[Remilia Scarlet]

magicsofa said:

I would hope to God Almighty that the object would impact earth and cleanse this foul realm of its infection: humans

Even if it did hit, its size isn't large enough to cause a mass extinction of the human race. It's power would be roughly 2.5 to 3 times that of Krakatoa.

[Maes]

And by then we could probably send Bruce Willis and his team of space drillers up there, for great justice.

[Aliotroph?]

This isn't very scary. We have lots of warning and the science and technology are there to mitigate danger and scariness.

EDIT: The Bruce Willis thing reminds me of the episode of Stargate where they tried to copy that tactic. They discovered nuking the rock involved would actually blow up the Earth, so they had to defuse the bomb.

[GreyGhost]

Meh - an asteroid "larger than two football fields" would demolish a major city but it's hardly a "planet-killer". Wake me up when something the size of Everest is spotted heading our way.

[Donce]

It's still unclear what path it will take in 2029. Anyway, I hope it won't be cloudy then and that I'll be able to observe it. So far, the closest asteroid I observed visually was 2002 NY40, which was at 1.5 the moon distance then. It was quite cool - while watching, it seemed to be stationary, but if you return to the eyepiece a minute or two later, you could see that it clearly shifted with respect to the stars.

[Planky]

Im just waiting for Wormwood to show up

[Marnetmar]

GreyGhost said:

Meh - an asteroid "larger than two football fields" would demolish a major city but it's hardly a "planet-killer". Wake me up when something the size of Everest is spotted heading our way.

Uhh, that's not exactly how it works...

[Clonehunter]

Maes said:

And by then we could probably send Bruce Willis and his team of space drillers up there, for great justice.

I like Robot Chicken's suggestion of Harrison Ford and Aerosmith better.

[lupinx-Kassman]

I've known about this for a while, my Geology professor was kind of panicky about it. Apophis is a pretty cool name for an asteroid by the way. Fitting for a wold-ender.

[Jodwin]

Don't care, there's still 25-something years left for bitches 'n booze.

[DoOmEr4LiFe]

well aside from it being able to probably hit us, I did find it interesting that the article said that it will pass within something like 5 1/2 Earth radii of the planet, which means that it will be closer to us than the moon. I for one, am ready for a cataclysm.

[Snakes]

This is 25 years away? I'll be past my prime at that point, so fuck it.

[Technician]

If I haven't left my legacy by fifty, let the meteor come.

[GreyGhost]

Marnetmar said:

Uhh, that's not exactly how it works...

I know. Asteroids are a bit like sharks - it's always one you're not watching that bites you in the ass.

[fraggle]

The Republicans would probably vote against it, anyway.

[Captain Toenail]

Well, reading the wiki, the current predicted chances of impact are ~2%? Also, if it does hit, it says it won't be a planet killer, just don't be within a thousand miles of the impact zone or you are dead :p

What I find more interesting is that when this thing passes by Earth it will be quite visible through binoculars, another close rock besides the Moon.

[Maes]

fraggle said:

The Republicans would probably vote against it, anyway.

The sad thing is that they actually would, and with the exact same words and arguments used in that article.

[Donce]

Captain Toenail said:
Well, reading the wiki, the current predicted chances of impact are ~2%?

2% would be insanely high probability, and everyone would be on their toes.

What I find more interesting is that when this thing passes by Earth it will be quite visible through binoculars, another close rock besides the Moon.

It will actually be visible to the naked eyes, unless you're in a city centre, surrounded by lights everywhere. But for this event, it would be really worthwhile to move out of the city to watch.

[Sharessa]

I think they finally determined that the Tunguska incident was a comet impact (or rather, it exploded right above the impact point). So that's probably the amount of damage it would do.

[Captain Toenail]

It states on the Wiki page to be about 50 times more powerful :p

[Remilia Scarlet]

Captain Toenail said:

It states on the Wiki page to be about 50 times more powerful :p

Still many, many times less powerful than what killed the dinosaurs. We're looking at a bit over 500 megatons. The thing with Krakatoa in the 1800s was 200 megatons, while Tunguska was about 3-10 megatons. The dino-killer is estimated at 100 million megatons.

I'm honestly a lot more scared of driving to or from work since, statistically, that's more likely to kill me. I also fear super volcanos, but that's just me :-P

[Hellbent]

I was actually posing the question presuming the asteroid had the potential to wipe out humans or at least a good chunk of the population (say 1/3 or 1/2) although I suppose I didn't make that clear. Something on the order of Deep Impact (but a bit worse). I still haven't read the article.

[Radon]

The one thing we can agree on in this issue is that either way; it's inevitable. If this rock hits us, then in a handful of years we'll be hit again and again, obviously it wont wipe us out just..impact our civilization. 25 years away? What's the point to worry about it, fuck em. That's why we have kids, it's their problem.