Asteroids, 1980-Present

[Dark_Chrysalis]

Stunning, and a bit sobering too...

http://www.arm.ac.uk/neos/1980-2010/...eoplayback.mp4

http://www.arm.ac.uk/neos/1980-2010 (if you cant get the above to load)

Red = Asteroids that cross paths with Earth's orbit
Yellow = Asteroids that should step off a bit
Green = Asteroids we're cool with being there

[ghost-]

dude holy sh*t why are there so many all of a sudden? D: it was all chill then sh*t really hit the fan and all of a sudden asteroids hate us ;___;

[Dark_Chrysalis]

They've always been there... we're simply discovering more and more each year. And by the looks of that animation, it's not slowing down anytime soon.

Also, link to source page added for those who can't get the mp4 to load for some reason (the mp4 is much better quality though).

[xealix]

It definitely is not going to be slowing down. What is happening is that as they collide the break into smaller and smaller pieces. Also you bring more big ones into the picture and this continues to happen. At any rate most of these are harmless. Yay for space and how it can scare the crap out of people

[fido123]

I'd like to know how many of those would be able to seriously **** up earth.

[freekilltwo]

thats insane, i blinked and then it scared the crap outa me how many there were, i could see somethin like that actually managing to cause wide spread panic in todays society

[xealix]

It really shouldn't though. They have always been there. Almost all of those are too small to cause us any harm. The ones you need to worry about you will hear about. Of course anything like this would freak people out. You just need to take the time to look this sort of stuff up and inform yourself. It really is more interesting then scary when you know more about it.

[Crashfan3]

I honestly thought this was about the arcade game. xD

Seriously though, 500k+ asteroids there? How do we get spacecraft past all that crap?

[flashpantss]

Originally Posted by Crashfan3

Seriously though, 500k+ asteroids there? How do we get spacecraft past all that crap?

This

[Reincarnate]

To those wondering about asteroids that will hit the earth:

Neil DeGrasse Tyson - Death By Giant Meteor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaW4Ol3_M1o


Those who are too lazy to watch:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by Crashfan3

I honestly thought this was about the arcade game. xD

Seriously though, 500k+ asteroids there? How do we get spacecraft past all that crap?

Space is so incredibly vast -- it only looks crowded if you compress it all to a 2D picture with relatively large dots representing a given asteroid.

[xealix]

Apophis is the only one in the near future that poses any threat. By the time it rolls around we'll have a way to reduce the threat. It is already being studied.

[Reincarnate]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct...inction_events

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by xealix

Apophis is the only one in the near future that poses any threat. By the time it rolls around we'll have a way to reduce the threat. It is already being studied.

The probability of it entering the keyhole is really, really low now. Even if it did, they already know how to deflect it via gravitational tethering.

[xealix]

I thought that was just one theory, but im not complaining if they can make it work. Either way mass extinction by asteroid seems to slim a chance to happen. Its not much fun either. I'd rather go by super massive black hole. xD

[Reincarnate]

That's not likely either, considering that we really only see supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. They're really hard to form outside of that, and there are certainly none near our solar system.

Dying via black hole would suck: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1iJXOUMJpg

[MelodyOfOblivion99]

They are supposedly going to try use a kinectic energy impactor to nudge the asteroid off course and then use a specially designed spacecraft to use it's gravity to gently lead the asteroid out of our orbit. Let's hope it works. Because if we can avoid the asteroid getting pulled by the earths gravity in the first place, then hopefully we can avoid it altogether.
Still, it's pretty scary stuff... o.o

[xealix]

I know it is unlikely. If we are going out via anything space related though i would want black hole. Its crazy but I love the thought of how it all works. Space is probably my favorite thing ever.