CitizenVectron Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 A 200-foot asteroid that just missed Earth last week wasn't detected until two days later WWW.TECHSPOT.COM Astronomers at the Atlas Observatory in South Africa first spotted 2023 NT1 on July 15, two days after making its closest approach to Earth. The asteroid entered... If it had struck land it would have caused city-level destruction and resulted in regional damage. If it had struck water near a coast, it would have caused a large tsunami. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacon Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Vic20 Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 Sooo close! Keep trying universe! 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spork3245 Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 I feel like this happens a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legend Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 I think I need to get to work on that asteroid defense space AI and robotics fleet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chairslinger Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 I think the most illustrative part of that article about this object's relative size is that it was about the same size as the one that caused the famous crater in Arizona. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firewithin Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 36 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said: Sooo close! Keep trying universe! nothing good ever happens 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LionFranco Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 For once, I'm glad it missed. The world can't end until I can watch Season 2 of Heartstopper...then I don't care so much... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marioandsonic Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 Do they know where it was close to landing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 I wonder if an asteroid strike might ever accidentally start a nuclear exchange? Like, say an undetected asteroid hits somewhere in Siberia, and Russia mistakes it as an American nuclear strike and attempts to retaliate before anyone actually figures out it was not a nuclear explosion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 1 minute ago, mclumber1 said: I wonder if an asteroid strike might ever accidentally start a nuclear exchange? Like, say an undetected asteroid hits somewhere in Siberia, and Russia mistakes it as an American nuclear strike and attempts to retaliate before anyone actually figures out it was not a nuclear explosion. There is a practically near-zero chance of that happening due to the extent of early warning capabilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUFKAK Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 So I almost didn’t have to go back to work dammit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaladinSolo Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 16 hours ago, mclumber1 said: I wonder if an asteroid strike might ever accidentally start a nuclear exchange? Like, say an undetected asteroid hits somewhere in Siberia, and Russia mistakes it as an American nuclear strike and attempts to retaliate before anyone actually figures out it was not a nuclear explosion. I suppose if it decapitated Russia wiping out the entirety of the upper echelons of their command and some subordinates who have no idea what happened but have launch capabilities and no way of figuring out what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 I mean, I don't know how close "almost hit" has to be for scientists to panic, but it went 60,000 miles away. That's almost the diameter of Saturn. I feel like "almost hit" is just for clicks. It's more shocking that it wasn't scene. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 16 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said: I mean, I don't know how close "almost hit" has to be for scientists to panic, but it went 60,000 miles away. That's almost the diameter of Saturn. I feel like "almost hit" is just for clicks. It's more shocking that it wasn't scene. That's closer than the moon. On an astronomical scale 60,000 is nothing IMO. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 10 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said: That's closer than the moon. On an astronomical scale 60,000 is nothing IMO. The moon is 240,000 miles. It's realllllly far away. edit: sorry, point being, in terms of "oh shit it could have hit us," is "closer than the moon" really ringing alarm bells or is it just being used for clicks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris- Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 2 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said: The moon is 240,000 miles. It's realllllly far away. It's all about scale though; he's right that most astronomers would view 60k as reeeeeeeally close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Just now, Chris- said: It's all about scale though; he's right that most astronomers would view 60k as reeeeeeeally close. Right, but is it like "oh shit" or "....huh, weird we didn't see that"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uaarkson Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Yeah 60k miles is nothing. Anything closer than the moon is really fucking close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris- Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Just now, Fizzzzle said: Right, but is it like "oh shit" or "....huh, weird we didn't see that"? I'd imagine the latter since a miss is a miss; the distance is just for context/perspective. Bigger deal that we never saw it coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 My eyebrows are sufficiently raised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 10 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: My eyebrows are sufficiently raised. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 The asteroid missed Earth by 60,000 miles. The Earth orbits the sun at 67,000 miles per hour. In other words, the asteroid was less than an hour off from hitting the planet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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