Giant asteroid heading close to Earth

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The rock, which is quarter of a mile across, will pass between our planet and the moon in November and will be visible with small telescopes.

Robin Scagell of the Society for Popular Astronomy said: its rare we get the chance to see an asteroid up close.

If it were to hit the earth, the asteroid, named YU55, would have an impact equivalent to 65,000 atom bombs and would leave a crater more than six miles wide and 2,000ft deep.

Passing by at a distance of just 201,000 miles, the asteroid will be the largest object ever to approach the earth so close.

Nasa has officially labelled it a Potentially Hazardous Object, but have stressed there is no danger of impact while on its current course.

YU55 orbits the sun every 14 years and last passed the earth in April 2010 at a distance of 1.5 million years.


There are currently 874 near earth asteroids which are considered to be potentially dangerous.


They are closely monitored and the list is being constantly added to as astronomers discover new objects in near space.


Scientists estimate that there is usually one large collision with earth every few hundred thousand years.
 
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YU55 orbits the sun every 14 years and last passed the earth in April 2010 at a distance of 1.5 million years.

Something not quite right with that sentence. :LOL:

Isn't this the asteroid that supposedly caused the earthquake in China?
 
Isn't this the asteroid that supposedly caused the earthquake in China?

Definitley not.

Like I said, supposedly. I remember an article about an asteroid apparently causing an earthquake and YU55's last pass with earth was at a similar time to the Chinese quake. I've been Googling but can't find anything related. Surely I can't be the only person to have read it?
 
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You can't seriously think that a little asteroid passing a few hundred thousand miles away could cause an earthquake. Perhaps a direct hit on a tectonic boundary that was already under stress might do it, anything else, forget it.
 
Frightening what these scientist chaps find out . Are they planning to send up any probes to scan it or anything? Golden opportunity to observe an asteroid so close to us.
 
Some info found online....true? I dont know


Asteroid 2005 YU55 historic and future alignments

On 01/28/11 object aligned with earth and sun, same day volcano erupted in Japan

On 04/30/10 object aligned with earth and sun, same day 6.5 earthquake in Bering Sea

On 04/19/10 object approached earth at .015 au, same day 5.6 earthquake in Afghanistan

On 04/13/10 object aligned with earth and sun, same day 6.9 earthquake in China, and massive fireball reported in Wisconsin sky

On 04/07/10 object is near earth and aligned with earth and sun, day before a 7.8 earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia and day before that a 7.2 earthquake in Baja California, Mexico
 
Earthquakes are happening all the time, saying a little asteroid passing could cause one is a bit like saying an aeroplane flying over a mountain could cause a landslide.

There's an awful lot of nonsense on line as I'm sure you know....It was only the other day some dhead was putting forward a theory on here that the yanks bombed themselves on 9/11. :LOL: :rolleyes:
 
Earthquakes are happening all the time, saying a little asteroid passing could cause one is a bit like saying an aeroplane flying over a mountain could cause a landslide.

There's an awful lot of nonsense on line as I'm sure you know....It was only the other day some dhead was putting forward a theory on here that the yanks bombed themselves on 9/11. :LOL: :rolleyes:

Yes I agree
 
And another d'head suggested a 600million mile long spaceship circling the sun might be an answer to our impending energy crisis. One too many games of Halo on someone elses Xbox.


 
sooey said:
Earthquakes are happening all the time, saying a little asteroid passing could cause one is a bit like saying an aeroplane flying over a mountain could cause a landslide.

I agree. If a passing asteroid could cause an earthquake, think what damage the moon would do! QED I think :cool: :cool: :cool:
 
And another d'head suggested a 600million mile long spaceship circling the sun might be an answer to our impending energy crisis. One too many games of Halo on someone elses Xbox.

No, no one ever said that on here. feel free to prove me wrong.
 
This is the message you sent me this morning.

RE:Discworld.
To: thatbloke
10:27 AM May. 06, 2011

Listen thatbloke , I may be from liverpool but that does not make me stupid, as you know all of our science was at one time science fiction. Discworld can and will exist one day , you just wait , you'll see. And then who cares if we have no coal left.

There you go.
 
Very good, well done....now, back to those conspiracy theories of yours. Is it really true that Micheal Jackson is alive and well, and working as a cocktail waitress down at your favourite gay bar?
 
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