Don't know if this has been covered or not here(probably has), but I found this web page:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0726/p01s04-stss.html

and it's telling of a possible asteroid strike with earth in 2029 or possibly 2036. Is this another chicken little story or should we really be worried?


AE

Reading here, the object caused alarm when the its orbit was first calculated. The orbit was more accurately calculated, which they found it would come close in 2029, but not impact. But,
Take note that it says non-zero probability, meaning an impact is possible, but not likely.

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I've heard of hundreds of warnings like this, but I have never ever experienced one single "threat" to be worth worrying for.

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It's best to run around in circles just to be on the safe side.

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Ok, this one popped up today.
Asteroid’s path could put Earth in its sights

Is there anything new, or are they just dusting off the story.

Also; what is this "KeyHole" that they are talking about?
(and if your quick enough - I like the warning at the top of the page:

Quote:

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ( ) UNTIL * PM AM. LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE STORM INCLUDE: .

When in danger,
When in doubt,
Run in circles,
Scream and shout!

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It just looks like dusting off. Its source was USA Today, and USA Today already covered the story, July 27, from the Christian Science Monitor.

They are just small regions of space where the effects of Earth's gravity will change Apophis's orbit so that it will soon collide with Earth.

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Does this asteroid have the potential for global consequences? I think I remember to have read that any asteroid more than 1 kilometer would have devastating consequences so this one shouldn't cause global problems. But I am not sure of it.

Is this asteroid too small for global consequences?

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[sarcasm] I think we're more in danger from Planet X. [/sarcasm]

:P

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What's a global consequence? Would its impact affect most people and areas somewhat? Probably. Mostly indirectly. Would it kill everyone or all life or destroy the planet? No.

As I recall the predictions, it would be very bad news for a small-medium country-size area -- probably what the Torino Scale would call regional devestation.

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Asteroid strike! I didn't know they had formed a union!

8-[

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A global consequence was described IIRC, as probable strong earthquakes around the world and dust being kicked up to the atmosphere as a result of the impact, decreasing temperatures worldwide.

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There is not anything to worry about. Either it will miss us, nothing to worry about, or hit, in which case you'll be dead, so nothing to worry about. You have no control over either so why worry? It will do you no good in either case.

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It's just one of those damn things of which there are many few. -- Dan Blocker

I would worry about a slow death...

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global temperature drop ayeh?
that might fix our global warming problem 8)
as long as we can evacuate half the globe intime to our moonbase i mean bunkers.

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There's certainly not much use in worrying. That said, we will most likely be smacked by something big at some point. Take a look at this article from the National Geographic site. From that article's closing paragraph:

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Just trying to have a conversation here, good advice though

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And a good conversation it is! Take a look here. There's ongoing discussion about what would be the best way to deal with this very event.

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Thanks for the link, interesting article.

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Always wit da negative vibes! Always wit da negative vibes! That's why they make cars, trucks & airplanes. So's ya kin git to da impact point ahead O time.

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The most likely place for a hit would be the oceans......

Now that would be nasty

You can expect that with this particular piece of rock that we will make certain that it does not hit. If by 2025 we think it will hit in 2036, we will nudge it sufficiently in 2029 that it will miss.

It is possible that civilization will collapse sufficiently before then that we will lose track of all of this, but if that happens, the asteroid is the least of your worries.

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Any non-zero chance of collision is cause for further study. "Non-zero" could mean 100% in 2036. Meteor Crater in Arizona (4000 feet wide and 600 feet deep) was caused by a slow-moving (12 km/s) metallic asteroid 130 feet in diameter. This one is quite a bit bigger than that, and would deliver about 800 - 1,000 megatons of TNT equivalent energy. We don't know what Apophis is made of, since we haven't been watching it too closely up until now, so it could be solid metal for all we know.

Apophis is not the kind of rock to destroy all human life on earth, but it still would wreak global havoc, causing earthquakes, tsunami, atmospheric dust, a serious blast wave, firestorms, and would leave a big freaking hole in the ground.

Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart has formally asked NASA for an investigation of the necessity of placing a transponder on the asteroid in order to study its orbital motion in detail. It will be swinging by earth in 2013 and we should get enough data at that time to figure out if Apophis is going to be ... difficult.

Upon further reading, it looks like an impact of Apophis has been ruled out for 2035, but 2036 is still at Torino Scale 1, meaning there is the possibility it will hit us in 2036. We should be keeping an eye on it.

Yes, because we CAN do something about it.

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>> Apophis is not the kind of rock to destroy all human life on earth

indeed, that would require quite a BIG rock

now a comet-hit is another matter.

Exactly - all we have to do is nudge it onto a slightly different course. No problem, it's not rocket science. Oh, wait, I guess it IS rocket science ...

All we need to do is watch the asteroid for now, and as predictions get better, with the impact date getting closer we can calculate probabilites better. However, even if it passes us by in 2029 we'll still have to be watching the asteroid after to look at the altered trajectory.

But who knows, by 2029 we may have designed a plasma conon which can take out this rock in one shot.

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As long as we dont get hit 2012,I would hate it if the zetas was right.:-)

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I still await the compelling Exhibit A.

So, eat, drink and be merry..............


Do not drink too deeply from the fountain of knowledge, lest you learn something you did not wish to know.

Agreed. Especially if those circles are about 10,000 miles in diameter and have their center coincident with Earth's CoM.

Be sure to pack some life support, though.

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