What is the chance of one hitting us right?
2006-09-12 05:18:13 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Run like hell coz that's where you will be going!
2006-09-12 05:20:36 · answer #1 · answered by Rudra Prasad Singh 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Professional astronomers are not looking at the whole sky all the time, and so it often happens that non-professionals are the first to spot new, nearby objects like comets. If you saw a giant meteor, how could you tell it was going to hit the Earth? (If you actually saw it coming from close up, it's way too late to do anything.) You would need to follow the meteor for several days, carefully recording the position, so that its orbit could be calculated. You would need to check that it's not one of the thousands of objects known to be in orbit near the Earth. Having done these things, and being convinced it was a new object, you could then report it to the agency of the International Astronomical Union who handle these things. But they don't appreciate false alarms from people who haven't done their homework.
There is much less than one-in-a-million chance of you getting hit by a meteor in your lifetime.
2006-09-12 05:58:46 · answer #2 · answered by cosmo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are now agencies like NEAT and LINEAR assisting NASA to detect and plot all Near Eath Objects (NEOs) larger than one km wide. By the end of 2008 they will have all of them cataloged and will know their orbital characteristics, such that if any are on target for Earth, we would have years to prepare for it.
It is not likely that any small amateur is going to detect one of these things, because even an asteroid several kms wide would be undetectable by all but the most professional instruments.
Sorry, but the scenario in Deep Impact, where a kid on a star party sees an object that is for all the world as bright as the other stars in the Big Dipper, is just not on, and never has been. If the object was that obvious, thousands of amateur observers worldwide would have observed it. I personaly know the constellations like the back of my hand, and I would know something was different in the sky as soon as I got out the door.
It is true that up til about 10 years ago, most comets were discovered by amateurs, but that has all changed with the new push to catalog NEOs. And, even back in the days when amateurs did discover new comets, they were dedicated comet hunters spending thousands of hours a year, and with top of the line equipment.
And how would you know this thing you saw was headed for Earth? the people who discover these things have the mathematical ability to calculate an orbit. These objects do not "head for us". They have an orbit around the sun, just like us, and the hunters calculate whether that orbit will intersect the Earth. So, anyone without the ability to plot the orbit would have no idea which way the thing was headed.
You prove that people do not understand what goes on in space. But you are definitely not alone in that.
2006-09-12 09:29:11 · answer #3 · answered by nick s 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What are the chances you would actually have time to tell someone, if you are using a private (not very powerful) telescope? Also, if you were to see the giant meteor, more than likely people who follow these would already have knowledge of it.
2006-09-12 05:32:15 · answer #4 · answered by rab 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1. don't bother telling or calling anyone - there just isn't going to be enough time to do anything about it.
2. The chances ar pretty good that one will hit the Earth in the next 10-15 years. The Earth is hit by some type of space debris on a daily basis. Most of this is rather small or simply vanishes by the time it hits our atmosphere and becomes non damage forming material.
2006-09-12 05:26:00 · answer #5 · answered by Lizzard 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ignore it. Any meteor you can see with your scope is almost certainly already being watched by more powerful scopes. Currently there are over 9,000 objects out there that routinely cross the earth's orbital path. Generally we take a major hit about once every 100,000 years. The last one was... er... about 100,000 years ago. So we're due. If it's a half-mile or more wide then the last one to leave turns out the lights. It'll be over for us.
2006-09-12 05:25:31 · answer #6 · answered by kevpet2005 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You certainly won't see it coming before the experts do. Any telescope sold for private use is not going to be anywhere near as powerful as some of the ones around the world used by scientists and the Hubble in space. So, if you think you saw one, you didn't and don't worry!
2006-09-12 05:24:11 · answer #7 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Tell someone. The likelihood of actually seeing an approaching impact with Earth is almost impossible. The last Near Earth-High Impact Meteor was only noticed as it was leaving. *8v/
2006-09-12 05:22:16 · answer #8 · answered by SYNTAX 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Just compute how long it will take to impact and do the following.
1. Enjoy your life to the fullest taking all possible loans
2. Find the contact point of the impact and go there during impact, you will be flattened in less than 0.1 second, you wont even know what "pain" is before you are dead.
3. May god bless you.
2006-09-12 05:56:17 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you see a giant meteor heading for us, the correct procedure is as follows --
1)bend over
2)grab your ankles
3)kiss your butt goodby
2006-09-12 05:51:56 · answer #10 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would be wise to tell someone especially, the one in the field of meteors.
2006-09-12 05:22:49 · answer #11 · answered by moonface 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋