Meteorite hits central Russia, injures 500+

[rareboy]

50 acres of glass in the windows of 4000 buildings to be swept up and replaced.

[Hard-up1]

Maybe the trick isn't shooting them down, but getting them to self-destruct before they get so close.

Couldn't we just post space billboards with quotes from threads in Hot Topics? They should readily self-destruct before getting any closer.

[doctorsun]

There are simply too many asteroids for the planet's space agencies to keep track of. Resources are far too low to be able to locate and track every piece of space debris that could cross our path. What resources we do have go toward finding much larger asteroids that pose extinction-level threats. They're trying to prevent Deep Impact (I won't say Armageddon because that movie was a scientific nightmare) from happening and that doesn't leave them very capable of tracking these smaller objects that can devastate entire cities or even regions. For instance, if the "near-miss" asteroid that passed yesterday had hit, it could have completely leveled a city the size of New York and caused extensive damage for hundreds of square miles. It was an asteroid that size (about 50 yards in diameter) that carved out Meteor Crater in Arizona.

[borg69unimatrix]

So further reading shows this mother was 50 feet in diameter before it blew up between 13 and 15 miles above the earth coming in at 44 times the speed of sound.

....and no one noticed it? 50 feet in diameter is too small?

The Tunguska asteroid, on the other hand, appeared to explode only about 3 miles above the surface based on an analysis of the blast effects.

I think the speed would be more of a factor then the size in the complexities of tracking.

And as far as Tunguska, isn't it true they've never actually found pieces/debris from that asteroid?

[gsdx]

And as far as Tunguska, isn't it true they've never actually found pieces/debris from that asteroid?

Actually, they're not even sure what it was. There was no impact by a solid object. The most popular theory is the explosion of either a comet or a meteoroid several kilometres above the earth and that the subsequent 'air burst' is what caused the destruction.

[Anders123]

Actually, they're not even sure what it was.

[FPNY]

There has to be a way to blame the gays for this....no?

[doctorsun]

Actually, they're not even sure what it was. There was no impact by a solid object. The most popular theory is the explosion of either a comet or a meteoroid several kilometres above the earth and that the subsequent 'air burst' is what caused the destruction.

They've found strong evidence that it was a small comet that exploded shortly after entering the atmosphere. They found traces of debris from the object in the permafrost that could have only come from a comet.

[gsdx]

^ Thanks. I hadn't read or heard anything specific. It's a fascinating event, that's for certain.

[M10000]

I never really believed a meteor killed all the dinosaurs. Every last one?

[benno5693]

I never really believed a meteor killed all the dinosaurs. Every last one?

The meteor itself extinct the species (and just about everything else), the effects of the impact after it did - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/ex.../asteroid.html

[doctorsun]

I never really believed a meteor killed all the dinosaurs. Every last one?

When large objects hit the Earth, they cause devastating, long-lasting effects. Most of the western hemisphere would have been decimated by the blast and the resulting fallout as debris thrown from the impact re-entered the atmosphere. It literally would have been raining fire. After that, there would have been a period of at least a couple years in which the sun would be blocked by a thick cloud of debris in the atmosphere. During this time, all vegetation would have died off within a few weeks. The animals would follow suit within in a few months.

[gsdx]

^ And it was world-wide. The only creatures to survive were sea creatures, bugs, and mammals (who could live underground and feed off roots and the bugs).

Discovery Channel did an excellent documentary on this very event called The Last Days of the Dinosaurs:

[M10000]

Thanks guys.
GSDX , when I have an hour , I'll look at the rest of the documentary
Thx

[Scealle]

Pretty scary
And they say you should make a wish when you see a shooting star

[gsdx]

Pretty scary
And they say you should make a wish when you see a shooting star

Yeah, like: "I wish this fucker doesn't hit me!"

[cgymike]

And to think the dinosaurs were wiped out by one of these? Wimps....

:O

[Keeland]

A Register story and video discusses the asteroid's origin, with the video animation showing where its orbit intersected that of Earth, according to Colombian "astroboffins."

The animation is best at full screen. It takes a few seconds (and orbits) until the viewing angle flattens twice, then the asteroid catches up to Earth and IMPACT.