has anyone heard about the metorite heardling towards earth do u think it is gonna hit us?

Answer 1

Assuming you mean asteroid not meteorite ... there are three candidates: 433 Eros (13 × 13 × 33 km in size), 99942 Apophis (320 metres in diameter) and 29075 1950 DA (1.1 - 1.4 kilometres in diameter), that you need to know more about to assess how grave a threat they pose.

433 EROS

433 Eros is an asteroid named after the Greek god of love Eros. (Don't confuse this with the dwarf planet Eris, which is much larger and much further away). It is the second-largest near-Earth asteroid, belonging to the Amor class. It is also a Mars-crosser asteroid.

On January 31, 2012, Eros is expected to pass Earth at 0.1790 astronomical units (1 AU – about 93 million miles – is the average distance from Earth to the sun).

i.e. it will pass 16.64 million miles from earth. That is hardly "heading straight for us"! And we need not lose much sleep over that one.

Semi-major axis 218.155 Gm (1.458 AU)
Perihelion 169.548 Gm (1.133 AU)
Aphelion 266.762 Gm (1.783 AU)

This means its average distance from the Sun is about one and half times that of Earth from the Sun and at its near point to the Sun it is still at least 0.133 AU from earth (as Eros' orbit is 1.76 years, we are usually not in line with it when it approaches its perihelion)

Assuming its orbit is stable, it is difficult to see what fear and trepidation the 2012 approach should cause anyone, except for those whose minds are in the gloomy grip of Mayan Calendar predictions of the end of the world in 2012.

Not having had any telescopes, the Mayans did not even know there were such a thing as asteroids (nor did we till 1801) and could therefore not have predicted asteroid impact as the means whereby the end of the world would come about!

29075 1950 DA

29075 1950 DA is the Near Earth Object with the highest known possible probability of impacting Earth, according to the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale. For a few days in December 2004 it was temporarily surpassed by 99942 Apophis (which at the time was named only by its provisional designation 2004 MN4).

If 1950 DA continues on its present orbit, it will approach near to the Earth on March 16, 2880. Over the intervening time, the rotation of the asteroid will cause its orbit to change (by the Yarkovsky effect). (See third link.)

A preliminary analysis shows two possible pole directions (Giorgini, et al., 2002 "Asteroid 1950 DA's 2880 Encounter with Earth"). One trajectory misses the Earth by tens of millions of kilometers, while the other has an impact probability of 1⁄300. The radar observations are currently being reanalyzed, in combination with the optical lightcurves.

The energy released by a collision with an object the size of 1950 DA would cause major effects on the climate and biosphere which would be devastating to human civilization.

The discovery of the potential impact has heightened interest in asteroid deflection strategies. (See fourth link.)

Despite the fatalism of many people when this topic comes up, there is plenty that could be done about avoiding an impact, especially with over 800 years notice of one!

99942 APOPHIS

In July 2005, former Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart formally asked NASA to investigate the possibility that the asteroid's post-2029 orbit could be in orbital resonance with the Earth, which would increase the probability of future impacts. Schweickart asked for an investigation of the necessity of placing a transponder on the asteroid for more accurate tracking of how its orbit is affected by the Yarkovsky effect.

If this project were undertaken, we would have a spy in the sky to tell us of any impending problems. This is just one example of how mankind can intervene in its own destiny.

DISCOVERY AND NAMING

Apophis was discovered on June 19, 2004, by Roy A. Tucker, David J. Tholen, and Fabrizio Bernardi of the NASA-funded University of Hawaii Asteroid Survey from Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. This group observed for two nights. The new object received the provisional designation 2004 MN4.

On December 18, the object was rediscovered from Australia by Gordon Garradd of the Siding Spring Survey, another NASA-funded NEA survey. Further observations from around the globe over the next several days allowed the Minor Planet Center to confirm the connection to the June discovery.

When first discovered, the object received the provisional designation 2004 MN4 and news and scientific articles about it referred to it by that name. When its orbit was sufficiently well calculated it received the permanent number 99942 (on June 24, 2005). Receiving a permanent number made it eligible for naming, and it promptly received the name "Apophis" as of July 19, 2005.

Apophis is the Greek name of the Ancient Egyptian god Apep, "the Destroyer", who dwells in the eternal darkness of the Duat (underworld) and tries to destroy the Sun during its nightly passage.

POSSIBLE IMPACTS

Apophis has an orbital period of 323.6 earth days and crosses our orbit twice a year. Only a minority of its approaches will find us at a point of our orbit where an impact may occur.

The 2029 approach was thought at first to be potentially hazardous, but further observations ruled that out. Then an impact in 2035 was considered a possibility and further observations then ruled that out, too.

On August 5, 2006, Apophis was lowered to a Level 0 Torino impact hazard scale. As of October 19, 2006 the impact probability for April 13, 2036 is estimated at 1 in 45,000. An additional impact date in 2037 has been identified, however the impact probability for that encounter is 1 in 12.3 million.

This hasn't exactly got me quaking in my boots.

POSSIBLE IMPACT EFFECTS

Wikipedia sums uo the current position as follows:

"It must be stressed that the odds of impact are now known to be very low. Hence, the possible effects of an impact are largely irrelevant.

However, the initial reports resulted in widespread discussion on many Internet forums, including armchair speculation about exactly where Apophis (then known only as 2004 MN4) would hit and what would happen when it did.

NASA initially estimated the energy that Apophis would have released if it impacted Earth as the equivalent of 1480 megatons of TNT. A more refined later NASA estimate was 880 megatons. The impacts which created the Barringer Crater or caused the Tunguska event are estimated to be in the 10-20 megaton range. The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa was the equivalent of roughly 200 megatons.

The exact effects of any impact would have varied based on the asteroid's composition, and the location and angle of impact. Any impact would have been extremely detrimental to an area of thousands of square kilometres, but would have been unlikely to have long-lasting global effects, such as the initiation of an impact winter."

IN SUMMARY:

Eros is the biggest of the three and would do the most damage if it did hit us, But passing us by at a distance of 16.64 million miles is not a collision course,

1950 DA. though smaller, would still be a life-extinguishing impact. But it is a 1 in 300 chance, it is 874 years away and its orbit can meantime be studied to refine the calculations and to consider possible deflection strategies.

Apophis is too small to cause all human life to perish. The initial panic is now over and the odds of an impact in the 2030s have now lengthened considerably,

I will leave the last word to Alfred E Neumann: "What, me worry?"!

Answer 2

You may be thinking of asteroid 99942 Apophis, which was once though to have a pretty good chance of hitting Earth in 2036, but now its orbit is better known and it seems it will not hit after all.

These false alarms happen from time to time and they make big headlines, but the later retraction of the prediction never makes headlines. But you can be sure that if there were a prediction of a direct hit, with near 100% certainty and the probability not going down with more observations, it would be ALL over the news, with governments all over the world spending billions to do something, like evacuating whole continents or whatever. Believe me, if one were on the way, you would not need to resort to Yahoo! Answers to find out.

Answer 3

Believe it or not many foreign objects head for the earth all the time you just never hear about them unless they are large. Any space rock can do damage if it is big enough.
Our goverment has lazers set up in key positions to break up any rock or foreign object big enough to do damage. The problem lies in our detection devices notifying us in enough time to do something about it. And if the metorite is too big it can cause a problem. But we are advancing our space technology every year to prevent catastophy.

Answer 4

If the suns diameter was forty inches the earths would be one-third of an inch. The distance between them would be a football field. Do you now understand how much space there is out there. Just because there is a big meteorite in the solar system it doese not mean it is going to hit us.

Answer 5

It might but it probably will be just a close miss. However, if there is enough iron in it, which is very likely, it will knock the earth out of it's orbit and the earth will head for the sun. Not to worry though, it will take at least 10 more years.

Answer 6

Lots of good answers here.

Yes, it's coming.
Yes, stuff is coming at us all the time.
Yes, there are many more forms of harm much more immediate than rogue asteroids.

I only pay attention to things I can do something about.
It frees up alot of mental energy.

;-)

Answer 7

yeah the guys above me are right. theres more chance of you dying by lightning than by getting hit by a meteorite. so the next time you look up at the sky to wonder worry bout where the lightning is going to come from not where the meteorite is going to come from.

Answer 8

Which one, man? There are a fair number of them NASA is tracking.

It could, but the odds are better that you'll be struck by lightning and win the lottery.

Answer 9

no,because it will burn out first in the atmosphere before it could hit the surface of our planet

Answer 10

i did. its coming straight at us...its called Eros and its supposed to reach here somewhere near 2012 if the apocalypse hasn't occured by then and anyway by then we'll PROBABLY have sufficiently advanced technoledgy and be able to deflect it