http://www.newsprepper.com/mega-asteroid-so-big-it-could-trigger-earthquakes-to-skim-past-earth-before-christmas/
>The 1.5-miles wide mega space rock known as 2003 SD220 is on a NASA list of “high priority” asteroids for close observation because of the potential threat to the planet.
>set to skim past us on CHRISTMAS EVE.
Are we getting doom for Christmas?
>>17048669
All I want for Christmas is DEATH!
>>17048725
It might be Jesus. Wouldn't that be a twist.
>>17048669
>2003 SD220
>2003 SD220 is on NASA's NHATS list of potential human-accessible targets, so observations
of this object are particularly important.
>The 2015 apparition is the first of five encounters by this object in the next 12 years when it
will be close enough for a radar detection. By obtaining radar ranging measurements at
each observing opportunity, it may be possible to detect non-gravitational perturbations
due to the Yarkovsky effect. If so, then we can obtain an estimate of the object's mass,
information that is invaluable for understanding the object's bulk density and internal structure.
>The SNRs at Goldstone during the 2015 apparition will be strong enough for ranging and perhaps
coarse-resolution imaging. These observations will also provide an important preview for the
encounter in 2018 when the the asteroid will make a much closer approach within 0.019 au
and when the SNRs will be strong enough for the highest resolution imaging that is available.
>This is an S-class object but nothing is known about it other than its absolute magnitude
of 16.9, which suggests a diameter of about 1.3 km.
>UPDATE: 2003 SD220 was detected by the NEOWISE spacecraft on 2015 Nov. 16. Preliminary results
reported by S. Sonnett and J. Masiero suggest the diameter is roughly 0.7 km.
>The close approach is on Dec 24 at 0.073 au (28 lunar distances).
>>17048757
It's the Christmas Star! Time to follow it to the messiah!
>>17048744
why would he be riding a meteor
>>17048757
>28 lunar distances
So...they are stating a close approach is just under 2 BILLION miles. Gotta love those astronomical ranges causing panic.
>>17049131
We can't possibly understand. His ways are beyond us.
>>17049158
Try ~7M miles.
>>17049237
Excuse me, yes. I don't know how google gave me the other number.
But it's still 28 times further away than the moon.
>>17049131
>mfw it skims africa
i cant believe this every year someone has to try and bring back this retard hoax up lmao
>>17049526
No the asteroid just missed last year but it's coming back to try again
>>17048669
>Are we getting doom for Christmas?
no.
i gave up on doomsday prophecies a while ago, 2012 was the last straw for me. made a fool of myself irl by sperging out about it to a bunch of people. every other doomsday prophecy since then has been a lie, the world was apparently gonna end in september 23rd or some shit but i slept like a baby and the day past before i even realized it.
honestly i would not mind the world ending at all, would save me the time of having to do it myself but i keep getting caught up in these bullshit conspiriacies just to get let down. no more.
>>17049708
>2012 was the last straw for me. made a fool of myself irl by sperging out about it to a bunch of people.
That's just what they want. After all those false alarms who is going to believe it when it really happens?
>>17049158
Yeah. Apparently an object that is a mile and a half long, is going to cause earthquakes from its grav pull from 28 lunar distances.
Nasa already released a statement this year after the october asteroid scare or whatever, saying there is nothing gonna be even remotely close to us for years and years
>>17049723
When what really happens? 2012 did happen, it was 3 years ago.
>>17049784
>When what really happens?
All manner of catastrophes are just waiting to happen.
You know, it doesn't really make much sense for us to search for very large asteroids. After a certain size, if they collide with Earth we're fucking boned no matter what we do. At best we might be able to send a last ditch team to Mars, but we can't save nearly enough people to make that viable. All the rich fucks would get tickets and then they're get to live a few more miserable years on Mars before dying some sort of horrible death.
Really it only makes sense to search for asteroids no large enough to wipe us out, but also large enough to really fuck up the planet, even if it hits the ocean.
>>17049816
I mean, no more or less than any other point in human history. Why worry?
>>17050161
It would take a trivial amount of energy to deflect even the largest near-earth asteroids and change their orbit to remove the threat.
It's the ones we don't see coming that are the problem.
>>17048669
If everyone starts doing summoning chants for the week before christmas, maybe it'll change its course and hit the Earth! Let's do this!
>>17050173
It could very easily take more energy than we can deliver. There's only so many ways to deliver that kind of energy to an asteroid, we'd need a rocket, some way to land on it or just smash into it. And what if that fails? We don't get a second chance and we're now totally fucked just like before.
I guess I meant to say that it's more worthwhile to spend more resources looking for the smaller ones. They're harder to detect, and we can plan for them with evacuations and damage mitigation. We can still search for the larger ones, but after a certain size, there's not really any point.
that's a lot of charcoal
>>17050189
> It could very easily take more energy than we can deliver.
Huh? You do realize that even a seemingly insignificant change in the asteroid's orbit would result in it missing the Earth, right? Go right now and play Kerbal space program. Observe how even tiny engines can completely change your orbit.
> There's only so many ways to deliver that kind of energy to an asteroid, we'd need a rocket, some way to land on it or just smash into it.
Dude, we landed a rocket on a fucking comet that wasn't even hurtling right at us. I have all the confidence in the world we can hit an asteroid if we know it's coming.
> And what if that fails? We don't get a second chance and we're now totally fucked just like before.
Uh, why wouldn't we get a second chance? If we detect the asteroid in advance the distances involved means that we could almost certainly launch multiple redundant missions at the same time. And even if everything fails it's not like we've actually lost anything because we're all going to die shortly anyway.
> I guess I meant to say that it's more worthwhile to spend more resources looking for the smaller ones. They're harder to detect, and we can plan for them with evacuations and damage mitigation. We can still search for the larger ones, but after a certain size, there's not really any point.
My guess is that you're making this assertion based on fiction about the topic. If you do the actual math and look at the actual tech involved, the size of the asteroid will make very, very little difference in terms of our ability to deflect it. What really matters is detecting it the first place, and thus we shouldn't be ignoring any object that might collide with Earth.
>>17049131
because the dinosaurs are extinct
>>17049708
>2012 was the last straw for me.
Same, I honestly thought that one would be the real deal.
>>17050235
What is it about doomsday prophecies that makes people go full aut?
http://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/cgi-bin/crater.cgi?dist=1500&distanceUnits=1&diam=1.5&diameterUnits=4&pdens=&pdens_select=3000&vel=17&velocityUnits=1&theta=45&tdens=1000&wdepth=2000&wdepthUnits=1
>>17050239
It's an escapist fantasy of a strange sort, allowing them to walk around with the knowledge that everything that sucks in their lives will soon come to an end, and death outside your control is much less scary for some reason than a life you do control.
Human fear freedom. We fear the reality that our thoughts, feelings, and decisions are the highest moral and spiritual authority there is. As a result, we're always looking for gods, demons, and prophets to take away that freedom and return us to the reassuring safety of preordained fate.
>>17050239
what is it about anything that makes people autistic
When will you idiots learn? There have been thousands of predictions about the world ending. Best selling books that got it wrong. Noted psychics that got it wrong. The famous and insane. Since pretty much the concept of mass death there have been retards claiming the world would end. Ignorant ass Christians alone have been saying it since the religion started.
The world isn't ending. You are. And you're scared of something that has happened to every single person that ever lived. But rather than coming to grips with inevitable death you want to believe something momentus will break the clock for you.
It's not. The world will go on as always long after you die an old person and long after your bones are dust. When your name is completely forgotten and every country in existence is gone. When the tech of today is as ancient as the pyramids. The world will still be here and man will exist even if we've moved off earth. Get over it.
>>17050265
Thanks, Chuck Pahlaniuk.
>>17050252
>a life you do control.
This is what meat puppets actually believe!
>>17049131
because that's a sick as fuck ride.
>>17050226
Oh shit... and the meteor beat the dinosaurs...
...Jesus rides the winner...
It all makes so much sense!
>>17050252
that's exactly how i am. egoistic mentality but atleast i'm aware of it.
>>17050223
we have never deflected (changed the trajectory of) any asteroid as far as i know. why are you so confident that we have the capability to do this successfully? you seem to be the one getting your info from fiction.
>>17050196
OP really missed a great pun opportunity. Your post will have to do
>>17048669
>all this autismo
happening fags, please kill yourselves
>>17050954
id is habbeding dummy
So should I still buy people presents this year or not. Because if we're all gonna die then I could blow my money on doing cool last minute stuff before dying.
>>17050252
whoa, that was deep tbqh
>>17050252
It's also kind of fun to joke about. At this point i don't take any of them very seriously, but what these stories do is make people think about the bigger scheme of things and that's not so bad.
