Asteroid impact prediction

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Moonklad	25 Jul 2002
It's the end of the world as we know it......and I feel fine. Well, have you guys heard the recent news concerning the potential asteroid impact of Feb 1, 2019? It reads like a science fiction book. Apparently scientists have discovered a large asteroid that might be on a collision course with our home in a few years. They say that they should have more info on this in a few weeks and that they hope the risk will be minimal, but I was wondering.. If they knew for sure that this thing would hit, would they inform the public or would they keep the info secret to avoid mass panic? Has anyone else heard about this? What do you think about it? Blessings, Moonklad

suzyspellbound	25 Jul 2002
Yeah I heard about that, on the radio they said that bookies were taking bets on it! If the whole of the human race is destroyed you get 3 million pounds in some kind of free lottery thing too!

wavebreaker	25 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by suzyspellbound If the whole of the human race is destroyed you get 3 million pounds in some kind of free lottery thing too! Now that's an easy promise to make! :D I read about it too. But the article I read said that the chance of it hitting the earth was 1 in 200,000 and there was still very little known about it. They seem to be pretty open about it now. There's a more dangerous one, but that one won't hit until 16 March 2880...

Laurel	25 Jul 2002
I'm putting my money on the 2880 asteroid. Laurel

Kyrie Blue	25 Jul 2002
Funny thing...it was in the papers here in New York a couple of years ago maybe and the very next day, they retracted the statement. Maybe they were afraid people would panic!..LOL I guess they have decided it will hit afterall.

Dark Inquisitor	25 Jul 2002
I used to listen to a prophet lady on the radio about 10 years ago who predicted this. She called it "the ball of redemption."

destinyawaitsme	25 Jul 2002
I don't know. The whole thought makes me nervous, but I figure if it's your time to go it's your time to go. I guess I better go skydiving or something. :D

Diana	25 Jul 2002
Please don't be concerned! There are "scares" like this all the time, heard of by journalists keen for a scoop. 2019 is a long time away. If you can wait (well, we have a few years - lol - ), when I get back to work end of August, I will get in touch with one of the scientists who works on our Planetary Emergency "Defence Against Cosmic Objects". (I work in a scientific organisation.) They will know better than any newspaper man. And if it can assure you, there is a lot of high level work and research going on in all countries that have a high-level scientific community, to find ways to protect ourselves against such objects. And this kind of information is very easily shared amongst the nations, because this kind of danger is a common one. And these scientists are very, very brainy!! But please, if you want me to, make a note in your agenda and PM me at the end of August. Otherwise I'll forget.

Sam	25 Jul 2002
I agree w/ Diana. In 15 years the asteriod thingy could change course, blow up, or, we will invent a giant laser that will blow that sucker to hell! hahahahaha!

raeanne	25 Jul 2002
This asteroid (2002 NT7) has a chance of striking the Earth in 2019. Will it hit? I don’t know. But something will. We have been hit before and we will be hit again. Right now we have no way to stop it from happening. I have often wondered if the “powers that be” would announce to the general public if it were known that an impact was eminent. As much as I would like to think that the public would be informed, I really believe that every attempt would be made to keep the information quiet. A lot would depend on the size of the asteroid. If it were a planet killer, I don’t think the public would be told. If it would be a locally devastating event, I think every attempt would be made to evacuate the area.

Kyrie Blue	25 Jul 2002
Yeah, I think you are right Raeanne...does anyone know how big of an asteroid this is and what the estimated impact results are?

amyel	25 Jul 2002
I agree with Raeanne....if an asteroid will destroy the whole planet, why bother to tell anyone?

Umbrae	26 Jul 2002
Wait a second. Let me get this straight. If I die, I receive money? I thought that was called life insurance!

Diana	26 Jul 2002
I don't know who the "they" is that people refer to in cases like this when they say "will they inform us?". After all, this kind of information is not only known by a tiny elite who will be able to keep it to themselves. Papers are being written, and amateur astrologists follow these events. News like this cannot be kept a secret.

the hermit	26 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by raeanne I have often wondered if the “powers that be” would announce to the general public if it were known that an impact was eminent. As much as I would like to think that the public would be informed, I really believe that every attempt would be made to keep the information quiet. Diana's right, you can't keep something like this quiet. Remember who almost always sees new comets and other small celestial objects (like asteroids) first. Amateurs! There are too many amateur astronomers (like me) with just good binoculars or a decent telescope (doesn't have to be a big one, mine's only a 4.5") who look for stuff exactly like this all the time (on any given night there are hundreds of us all over the world watching the skies). And also remember this. Any object is reported as a 'close' approach to earth if it’s flight path is calculated to come inside the Moon’s orbit. That means that anything that comes within approximately 238,000 miles or approximately 384,000 kilometers (the approximate average distance from the earth to the moon) of earth is reported as being on a POSSIBLE collision course.

Jenny-Li	26 Jul 2002
I find these things really scary to think about, and from a Spiritual point of view I get this stupid feeling it would imply that the Universe has given up on the lot of us, and is saying "Oh, scrap'em, let's go for some other species, there's gotta be some life form on that darn planet that can get this straight..." (Whatever "this" is, that's what we're here to figure out, I think...!) But as has been said, I don't believe it as long as it comes from the newspapers, when it's official I'll believe it! Quote: Originally posted by The Hermit And also remember this. Any object is reported as a 'close' approach to earth if it’s flight path is calculated to come inside the Moon’s orbit. That means that anything that comes within approximately 238,000 miles or approximately 384,000 kilometers (the approximate average distance from the earth to the moon) of earth is reported as being on a POSSIBLE collision course. Odd thought (I seem to have a lot of those lately...!): What if it spares us and knocks out the Moon...? It would certainly make a HUGE sacrifice, just imagine life without the moon... Then how would we teach our children the meaning of card 18 of the Major Arcana...! ;) Jenny :)

Umbrae	26 Jul 2002
Uh…If you wipe out the moon, I do not think that you will have a smaller Major Arcana. Moon=tidal movements…moon gone… The sudden shift in the gravitational effects provided by the moon would…

Redmoon	26 Jul 2002
I really don't care. :-) Sh*t happens. I could die tomarrow, and not regret my life. And I have a good part of my life to live yet(concidering i'm only 15). There's nothing we can do about it. Face the facts- Death is inevitable. It's just a matter of when and how it happens. And my view on it is to not have a view on it. No one knows for sure what happens after your life in this world is done. I feel that this is only the beginning. Death is just the next big step. There's nothing to fear in my book. It's as natural as being born. And if the "Powers that Be" decide that it's time to end my time on this world, I would go without a fight. I hope this makes sense to you, and doesn't sound immature. I always have trouble putting words to my feelings. But I know how I feel, and that's good enough for me. ;-)

amyel	26 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Errtu I really don't care. :-) Sh*t happens. I could die tomarrow, and not regret my life. And I have a good part of my life to live yet(concidering i'm only 15). There's nothing we can do about it. Face the facts- Death is inevitable. It's just a matter of when and how it happens. And my view on it is to not have a view on it. No one knows for sure what happens after your life in this world is done. I feel that this is only the beginning. Death is just the next big step. There's nothing to fear in my book. It's as natural as being born. And if the "Powers that Be" decide that it's time to end my time on this world, I would go without a fight. I hope this makes sense to you, and doesn't sound immature. I always have trouble putting words to my feelings. But I know how I feel, and that's good enough for me. ;-) It doesn't sound immature, Errtu. It sounds pretty enlightened to me. Do you know how many folk are afraid to die? Or face death and regret that they didn't do something they'd always wanted to do? The challenge here is to not become pessamistic about LIFE. Not being afraid to die is one thing, but sometimes people take this attitude and twist it somehow into this...."why bother? We're all gonna die" attitude (it doesn't sound like you are one of those). Enjoy life, tat's all I'm saying. And I think you expressed yourself just fine. :)

raeanne	26 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by the hermit There are too many amateur astronomers (like me) with just good binoculars or a decent telescope (doesn't have to be a big one, mine's only a 4.5") who look for stuff exactly like this all the time (on any given night there are hundreds of us all over the world watching the skies). If you can calculate the orbital mechanics for an asteroid with binoculars and a 4.5" telescope, I am very impressed! Please e-mail me with the formula/s you are using! I am very, very interested in how you do this! A friend of mine has been working on a computer program to do this type of calculation and I know he has been having all kinds of problems with the high end math. Any help you could pass along would be credited to you in any of his future journal papers.

purplelady	26 Jul 2002
It's my understanding that just recently, maybe a month ago, an asteroid whizzed by us that COULD have have hit the earth and had devastating results. And no one noticed it coming beforehand! I'm sure someone else must've heard about this one in the news?

the hermit	26 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by raeanne If you can calculate the orbital mechanics for an asteroid with binoculars and a 4.5" telescope, I am very impressed! Please e-mail me with the formula/s you are using! I am very, very interested in how you do this! A friend of mine has been working on a computer program to do this type of calculation and I know he has been having all kinds of problems with the high end math. Any help you could pass along would be credited to you in any of his future journal papers. sorry, I have enough trouble calculating my bank balance. Never said I did the orbital calculations. The amateurs like myself spot the objects that are where nothing is supposed to be in the sky, notify the professionals and let THEM do the calculations on their big supercomputers. Since there are hundreds of those wonderful souls all over the world, and since the notification mechanism is public via Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) which operates under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), it's pretty hard to keep any new discovery secret for more than a few minutes. And since those 'professionals' are all over the world and many are at universities, that makes the path pretty hard to keep secret once it's been calculated, because everyone wants to be the first to say "I know something you don't know!!!" But then your friend knows all of this which is probably why he's working on a program that I assume will run on a personal computer rather than a huge, expensive supercomputer. It will allow more 'regular folk' to do the work first. He probably also knows that there are folks at more than one university (Stanford, Berkley, MIT, CalTech to name just a few of the ones I've heard of here in the states) who don't have trouble with the 'higher math' and are working on the same thing. :D I wonder if I could get one of them to help with my checkbook?

The Asteroid impact prediction thread was originally posted on 25 Jul 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.