Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
|
140000-ton asteroid set to narrowly miss Earth may smash satellites | A newly found 150-foot-wide asteroid may pass so close
to the Earth in February that it might destroy communications satellites, researchers
say. Discovered by astronomers at the LaSagra Observatory in Spain , 2012 DA14
is estimated to veer near enough to Earth to potentially disrupt geosynchronous
satellites on February 15, 2013, the Daily Mail reported. While the asteroid is
currently a ‘fuzzy little blob’, as seen through telescopes, 2012 DA14 may eventually
come to pass 21,000 miles away from the Earth putting synchronous satellites in
the firing line. Although NASA have asserted that the chance of the asteroid hitting
Earth is 0.031 percent, if it did it would strike with the force of a 2.4 megaton
explosion, similar to the mysterious Tunguska event of 1908 which levelled hundreds
of square miles of Siberian forest. Presently, the exact orbital path of the asteroid
is being determined by NASA and astronomers are erring on the side of caution
in case it does come in contact with a satellite. “That’s very unlikely, but we
can’t rule it out,” said Paul Chodas, a planetary astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena California . “The orbit for 2012 DA14 is currently very Earth-like, which means it will be very close to Earth on a regular basis.” In the preceding months to February, NASA will attempt to form a fuller picture of where and how close the satellite will get. “We don’t know exactly where it
is, and that uncertainty maps through to an uncertainty in the orbit and predictions,”
said Steven Chesley, who also works at JPL. But for now, no one at NASA is worried
that the asteroid will hit but insist that 2012 DA14 might be visible from Earth
as it flies past. “It might be visible to people with good binoculars or a small
telescope,” said Chodas. “For such a small object, that’s really unusual.” While
astronomers analyse their initial estimate of a 0.031 percent chance of 2012 DA14
hitting earth, they cannot rule out the odds of it hitting in 2020 on its next
fly-pass. That is because they will have to see how close 2012 DA14 gets to Earth
in February and how much our gravitational pull impacts its course for its next
fly by in 2020. If it does hit, scientist think that its south-bound approach
imply that it will hit Antarctica or the Southern Ocean. The detonation of the
140,000-ton rock would not end civilization but would potentially result in humungous
loss of life if it hit a populated centre.
|
|
|
|
|
|