Georgia Trail Riders Forum
MEMBERS DISCUSSION AREA => General Discussion => Topic started by: DOUG on November 08, 2011, 04:02:57 PM
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http://www.wtop.com/?nid=884&sid=2624431
An asteroid the size of the U.S.S. Nimitz is bearing down on Earth. NASA's Near-Earth Object Program says the impact of the rock, dubbed 2005 YU55, would equal a 4,000-megaton blast and create 70-foot high tsunami waves, CBS News reports.
That's near 200,000 times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Fortunately for us, NASA predicts the murderous cosmic body will miss our planet by about 202,000 miles, passing around 6:28 p.m. on Tuesday. That's about 0.85 times the distance to the moon, NASA says. The last time an asteroid this size came this close to Earth was in 1976, and it shouldn't happen again until 2028 -- provided we're still here.
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202,000 miles away, should feel the breeze off it, not.
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Too bad we won't be able to see it.
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I saw it actually. They said to watch at 6:28, and right on the dot I spotted it. It looked a little bigger than the stars around it, and reflected a red'ish light. If you've ever watched a satellite move across the sky it was similar, but much faster. I've watched satellites for 10 minutes or more, but this thing went all the way across the sky in about 30 seconds and faded in a strait line instead of diving to the horizon. Pretty dang cool site actually. I'm sure there will be some cool videos. Somebody had to catch it with a bad A telescope.
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Awesome. Wish I would have watched for it!
Sent from my DROID Pro using Tapatalk
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http://www.space.com/13507-photos-asteroid-2005-yu55-earth-flyby.html
Sent from my DROID Pro using Tapatalk
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dang, wish I had tried to watch that narrow escape we had...sounds like it was cool will. {toast} on to worrying about the earth-ending threats back here on earth again.
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Dang. Shoulda called me willy!
From the phone
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Hmmm...I will be 80 in 2028.....I will however pray for my kids and grandkids!