Armageddon

 

There seems to be alot of talk on the internet recently about an asteroid crashing to earth. Are the scientists trying to hint to us something? Remember that year where there were many similar movies on the same subject?

There was another recent one, and I liked it. Starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Jennifer Lawrence. Spoiler, this one had no happy ending and everybody dies. 

My point is, sometimes when things all point one direction, it is the collective consciousness of the human race may be hinting something. And I hope it is not what I am thinking!

Regardless, here are the few asteroids that have been making the news. All of them supposedly have close to zero chances of crashing to Earth. But a few of them come or will come agonizingly close, close enough that at one point, scientists think that it will crash into the Earth!

                                                                         Tunguska Event

The Tunguska Event is the largest impact event in Earth recorded history! It caused a large explosion between 3 and 50 megatons near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, Russia on the morning of 30 Jun 1908. It fell on the sparsely populated East Siberian taiga and felled 80 million trees over an area of 2,150 km2 (830 sq mi) of forest. The asteroid was 50-60 meters wide. The explosion registere at seismic stations across Eurasia, the air waves from the blast were detected in Germany, Denmark, Croatio and the United Kingdom, as far away as Batavia, Ditch East Indies and Washington DC. It was estimated that the resulting shock wave was equivalent to an earthquake measuring 50 on the Richter scale!

                                                                        Chelyabinsk

The Chelyabinsk meteorite did impact the Earth, exploding in the 30 km in the air in the Southern Ural district of Russia on 15 February 2013. It was 18 meters in diameter and weighed 9100 tons at 19 km/s (69,000 km/hr or 43,000 m/hr).It shone briefly brighter than the sun and was visible over 100 km away shattering windows and causing a shockwave. Some people even reported feeling intense heat from the meteorite

                                                                        Oumuamua

Oumuamua (which means scout) is an extrasolar object (meaning from beyond our solar system) estimated between 100 to 1000 meters long and a thickness between 35 to 167 meter wide, travelling at 87 km/s. It has a red color, like objects in the outer solar system. It shows no signs of a coma, as comets do when they pass the sun, ad has exhibited strange acceleration. It was sighted on 19 October 2017 40 days after it passed the closest to the sun, meaning we nearly missed seeing it. 

Strangely, after passing us, it has returned! And it didn't return alone! It is returning with two companions, and scientists don't even know where it turned back or its orbit. In late 2025, Oumuamua will reach the outer edge of the Kuiper belt, then the heliopulse, the outer edge of the solar system

                                                                        Apophis

                            Apophis, serpent demon God of Chaos, Destruction, and darkness, enemy of Ra

Apophis (the Egyptian Demon serpent of darkness) is a near-earth asteroid 450 meters by 170 meters causing a brief cause for concern in December 2004. Initial observation indicated a 2,7% chance of hitting Earth on April 13 2029. Additional observations eliminated this possibility. A small possibility remained that during the 2029 close encounter that Apophis will pass through a gravitational keyhole 800 meters in diameter which might set up a impact in April 13 2035. The possibility kept it on a Torino hazardous impact scale of 1, until August 2006 wen the rating on the Torino scale was lowered to 0. During the short time it was a concern, Apophis set a record of being the highest recorded on the Torino scale of 4. It is expected to come 31,000 km from the Earth, nearer than many satellites!

    2024 Yr4

2024 YR4 is an asteroid estimated 40 to 90 meters and is classified as an Apollo-type (Earth type) crossing. From 20 to 27 January 2025, it had a rating on the Torino scale of 3 with a maximum probability of 3.1% to impact on Earth on 22 December 2032. The treat peaked till 18 February 2025 where the threat reduced to 0 on the Torino scale in 2032. It retains a small chance of impacting the moon in 2032

                                                                                Bennu

                      Bennu, mythical bird of the Sun, creation and rebirth. In other myths it's the phoenix

Bennu was named after the Egyptian mythological bird associated with the Sun, creation and rebirth discovered on 11 September 1999. Bennu has a mass of 73 million tons or 13 great pyramids of Giza. If it crashes to Earth, will release over a gigaton of TNT, 200 times more powerful than the Tunguska Explosion or 200,000 times Hiroshima. It has a 490 meter diameter moves art 28km/s or 63,000 m/hr and has a 1 in 1750 chance of impacting the Earth in 2178 and 2182, with the greatest chance on 24 September 2182Bennu has a roughly spheroidal shape, resembling a spinning top. Bennu's axis of rotation is tilted 178 degrees to its orbit; the direction of rotation about its axis is retrograde with respect to its orbit.

2007 FT3

On 27 June 2007, a asteroid was detected as a possible asteroid that would impact the Earth. It had a diameter of 314 meter diameter and a mass of 54 million tons. But it NASA lost track of it and considered it a "lost asteroid". They discovered it again in 2023, but NASA denies it will crash into the Earth now on it's flyby at 5 October 2024. If it did crash to Earth, it is estimated to release the energy of 2.6 billion tons of TNT!

2023 DW Valentine's day Asteroid

2023 DW is a 50 ton asteroid discovered on the 26th of February 2023. It has a Torino rating of 1 and was predicted to impact the Earth on 14 February 2046. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which successfully altered the trajectory of a small asteroid by colliding a spacecraft into it, is seen as evidence that humanity can be prepared to confront space rocks on potentially disastrous courses. 

 

1950 DA

Asteroid (29075) 1950 DA, a potentially hazardous near-Earth object, was discovered in 22 February1950, lost for decades, and then re-identified in 2000, with a potential impact with Earth in 2880, which is now considered a very low probability. It is a 1 km diameter asymmetrical spheroid. Latest probability is 1 in 30,000 that it impacts the Earth

2023 TL4

Asteroid 2023 TL4, discovered in 2023, is a potentially hazardous near-Earth object with a 1 in 181,000 chance of striking Earth on October 10, 2119, and a potential impact energy equivalent to 7.5 billion tons of TNT

1979XB

Asteroid 1979 XB, a "lost" near-Earth asteroid, is classified as potentially hazardous due to its size and orbit, which crosses Earth's path, with an estimated diameter of 660 meters (2,200 feet). It was last observed in 1979 and has a poorly constrained orbit, but scientists have calculated a very low chance of impacting Earth on December 14, 2113. 

                                                                            Didymos

Didymos is a binary asteroid system, meaning it consists of two asteroids orbiting each other. The larger asteroid, Didymos, has a diameter of around 780 meters (about 2,560 feet). The smaller asteroid, Dimorphos, has a diameter of around 160 meters (about 525 feet). NASA's DART mission intentionally crashed a spacecraft into Dimorphos to test a planetary defense technique by altering its orbit around Didymos.

 Ryugu

Ryugu refers to Ryugu-jo or Dragon Palace, a mythical underwater fish-scale palace in Japanese folklore. It measures 900 meters Ryugu has a round shape with an equatorial ridge, called Ryujin Dorsum. Ryugu is a spinning top-shape asteroid similar to Bennu

In other news, Pluto is colliding with Neptune! It's all over YouTube. But if you research on google, Pluto can never collide with Neptune. It's clickbait!

Pluto, God of the Underworld vs Neptune, God of the Sea!