Pablo Sanchez Posted July 24, 2002 Report Share Posted July 24, 2002 BBC-An asteroid discovered just weeks ago has become the most threatening object yet detected in space. A preliminary orbit suggests that 2002 NT7 is on an impact course with Earth and could strike the planet on 1 February, 2019 - although the uncertainties are large. Astronomers have given the object a rating on the so-called Palermo technical scale of threat of 0.06, making NT7 the first object to be given a positive value. From its brightness, astronomers estimate it is about two kilometres wide, large enough to cause continent-wide devastation on Earth. Many observations Although astronomers say the object definitely merits attention, they expect more observations to show it is not on an Earth-intersecting trajectory. This asteroid has now become the most threatening object in the short history of asteroid detection Dr Benny Peiser It was first seen on the night of 5 July, picked up by the Linear Observatory's automated sky survey programme in New Mexico, US. Since then astronomers worldwide have been paying close attention to it, amassing almost 200 observations in a few weeks. Could it be deflected? Dr Benny Peiser, of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, told BBC News Online that "this asteroid has now become the most threatening object in the short history of asteroid detection". NT7 circles the Sun every 837 days and travels in a tilted orbit from about the distance of Mars to just within the Earth's orbit. Potential devastation Detailed calculations of NT7's orbit suggest many occasions when its projected path through space intersects the Earth's orbit. Researchers estimate that on 1 February, 2019, its impact velocity on the Earth would be 28 km a second - enough to wipe out a continent and cause global climate changes. However, Dr Peiser was keen to point out that future observations could change the situation. He said: "This unique event should not diminish the fact that additional observations in coming weeks will almost certainly - we hope - eliminate the current threat." Easily observable According to astronomers, NT7 will be easily observable for the next 18 months or so, meaning there is no risk of losing the object. Observations made over that period - and the fact that NT7 is bright enough that it is bound to show up in old photographs - mean that scientists will soon have a very precise orbit for the object. Dr Donald Yeomans, of the US space agency's (Nasa) Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, told BBC News Online: "The orbit of this object is rather highly inclined to the Earth's orbit so it has been missed because until recently observers were not looking for such objects in that region of space." Regarding the possibility of an impact, Dr Yeomans said the uncertainties were large. "The error in our knowledge of where NT7 will be on 1 February, 2019, is large, several tens of millions of kilometres," he said. Dr Yeomans said the world would have to get used to finding more objects like NT7 that, on discovery, look threatening, but then become harmless. "This is because the problem of Near-Earth Objects is now being properly addressed," he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted July 24, 2002 Report Share Posted July 24, 2002 17 years is a long time to design an asteroid destroying machine. I remember the story from 1997 about an asteroid that was on a collision course for earth. It was top news, and there were a lot of people talking about it to a point of near panic. I don't think that it was slated to hit the earth for at least a couple of decades either. However, within a couple of days, they found an error in the calculations that showed it wasn't even going to come close. I still think they made the last part up to ease the panic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h Posted July 24, 2002 Report Share Posted July 24, 2002 too bad bruce willis died on the last one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted July 24, 2002 Report Share Posted July 24, 2002 Oh my god, we only have 17 years of Armageddon partying left ! who's up for beers tonight ?!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieDon'tSurf Posted July 24, 2002 Report Share Posted July 24, 2002 No worries pholks...god didn't invent those Jovian planets for nuthin' my bet is on that chunk o' space stuff to bounce offa this big daddy: better yet, with a little luck and some precise venue choice, a good promoter could set up a Creed/Nickleback/Shakira/Limp Bizkit/Korn/Eminem 'Super Show' at the predicted site of impact and voila! those piles of no-talent are as good as gone (in 17 years it would hafta be some sort of benefit/reunion gig, like a "Talentless-Aid Show") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts