NGC - Maybe next time...Large asteroid comes sailing past .

[Rick in WNY]

https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2019-07-26/large-asteroid-just-misses-earth-surprises-scientists

We got missed... but not by a whole lot.

Frankly, anything that gets closer than the moon is close... and that's 240,000 miles.

Since this is long-range, we'll use an NRA High-power target for comparison

X-Ring - 10 inches
10 Ring - 20 inches
9 Ring - 30 inches
8 Ring - 40 inches
7 Ring - 60 inches
Target - 72" Square

Keeping those proportions and scaling up to Earth, we get:

X-Ring - 8,000 miles (diameter of Earth)
10 Ring - 16,000 miles
9 Ring - 24,000 miles
8 Ring - 32,000 miles
7 Ring - 48,000 miles
Target - 57,600 miles Square

So... at 45,000 miles it was a solid 7 shot... that made me pause for a moment... because the first time I shot at a 600 yard target, I completely missed. When I managed to get a 7, I was thrilled. Just something to consider.

[ohiorider]

That's an interesting way of putting it into perspective! 

Bob

[Zoom Zoom]

And to put the asteroid into perspective, it was the size of a football field is long and traveling 55,000 miles per hour.

That is gonna hurt!

John Henry

[fotoguzzi]

I'm the title police, a better title might be something like, "Large Asteroid Just Misses Earth"

[Rick in WNY]

I'm the title police, a better title might be something like, "Large Asteroid Just Misses Earth"

It was more of a "Heads Up!" that the universe doesn't care if we're here or not... and that the next time a rock comes whizzing by... it might not miss. This little blue/green ball we all love so much is looping around the local star at roughly 19 miles per second. That works out to, again, roughly, 67,000 miles per hour. So this rock missed by less than an hour, call it about 40 minutes. Now, I know, 3-dimensional space and all that, if it was above or below our orbital plane it won't ever hit us yadda yadda yadda...

As for the energy involved... smarter people than me figured that out. But a football field size rock at 55,000 mph is gonna leave a mark...

And, there are more of them out there... like Apophis, which is 3 times wider, so 27 times more massive, and is going to pass by a mere 19,000 miles away.

https://www.space.com/asteroid-apophis-2029-flyby-planetary-defense.html

Not trying to scare people... just trying to make the point that we all live under the ultimate Sword of Damocles, and that the human species needs to put our petty differences aside because to the universe as a whole... we just don't matter. 

[normzone]

Yeah, but what is the best kind of oil to use for a rock that size?

[wirespokes]

As I understand it, a big strike was responsible for our elliptical orbit - maybe even the skewed axis. This wouldn't be the first such hit we've taken but could be a game changer. Yeah, we need to focus on more important stuff - too much energy and resources expended squabbling among ourselves.

[oldbike54]

 Maybe the next meteor strike will kill the damn flying roaches that have found there way here from the SE Coastal area . Palmetto bugs my patoot , they are giant roaches .

 Dusty

[cloudbase]

[RinkRat II]

      We already captured one! Come on out and see it today!





       https://meteorcrater.com/

                      Paul B

[Rick in WNY]

Maybe the next meteor strike will kill the damn flying roaches that have found there way here from the SE Coastal area . Palmetto bugs my patoot , they are giant roaches .

 Dusty

I hear you there, Dusty... I've got family in the Tampa / Sarasota areas. Those dang flying cockroaches are the worst thing I've ever encountered. Disgusting creatures! They are the main reason I will go there to visit... but I'm not ever moving there.

[Cage Free]

So my take away from all this is buy what ever bike you want as often as you want because you never know, not sure my wife will share my revelation.

[antmanbee]

One of the ends of the world was most likely a giant asteroid.
I am currently reading-  The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions
It is an intensely interesting book.
The rise and demise of life on earth multiple times is extremely fascinating and on a time scale that is almost incomprehensible. This should be taught in depth in high school if not grade school, not just a superficial mention.
   

https://www.amazon.com/Ends-World-Apocalypses-Understand-Extinctions/dp/0062364804/ref=asc_df_0062364804/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312165853622&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1133419813585138086&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9053023&hvtargid=pla-372063020843&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=60258872297&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312165853622&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1133419813585138086&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9053023&hvtargid=pla-372063020843

[Rick in WNY]

Mmmm, that looks like an interesting book... I'll add that to my wish list. Thanks!

[Lannis]

I suspect that we worry a bit more about it now because we can detect and see them, where we didn't used to be able to.   If statistics mean anything, these things have been whizzing past for millions of years now without a major end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it event.   

If it's going to happen in a (say) 10 million year window, the chances of it happening in the next thousand years  are ... well, 1 in 10,000.

Of course, on an airplane, there's one fatal accident per 2,000,000 flights.   On the one hand, that didn't help the last 250 people that died in a crash.   On the other hand, it doesn't keep anyone from getting on an airplane and getting on with it .... !

Lannis

[Chuck in Indiana]

That was on my van on our big western trip in 16.. My only ever political bumper sticker

[wirespokes]

So my take away from all this is buy what ever bike you want as often as you want because you never know, not sure my wife will share my revelation.

Exactly!

The earth's poles have changed about every 20,000 years - now overdue - and who knows what havoc that will wreak?, then there's earth quakes, believe it or not - past civilizations have collapsed due to nuclear holocaust, or there's just normal decay - like our country is falling apart and China could take over, environmental disasters.... so yeah, make the best of what we've got and ride what you want!

Makes sense to me!

[Lannis]

Exactly!

believe it or not - past civilizations have collapsed due to nuclear holocaust ....
Makes sense to me!

Any examples of these past civilizations?   If they include Lemuria or Cimmeria, or the plateau of Leng, I already know about them ....

Lannis

[Moto]

... The rise and demise of life on earth multiple times is extremely fascinating and on a time scale that is almost incomprehensible. This should be taught in depth in high school if not grade school, not just a superficial mention.

Life itself has only arisen once on Earth, as I understand it. There have been several mass extinctions but never a total eradication since then.

So there's no reason for despair, taking the long view!!

Be happy.

Moto

[Motormike]

Ever read Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot?"  Kinda keeps things in perspective.

http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/earth/pale-blue-dot.html