Would you want to know before it gets here?  | |  Space rock makes close approach
An asteroid which may be as big as a ten-storey building has passed close by the Earth, astronomers say.
The object, known as 2009 DD45, thought to be 21-47m (68-152ft) across, raced by our planet at 1344 GMT on Monday.
The gap was just 72,000 km (44,750 miles); a fifth of the distance between our planet and the Moon.
It is in the same size range as a rock which exploded over Siberia in 1908 with the force of 1,000 atomic bombs.
The object was first reported on Saturday by the Siding Spring Survey, a near-Earth object search programme in Australia.
It was confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre (MPC), which catalogues Solar System objects.
The closest recent flyby listed by the MPC is 2004 FU162, a small asteroid about 6m (20ft) across which came within about 6,500km (4,000 miles) of our planet in March 2004.
The latest object, 2009 DD45, passed by our planet at only twice the altitude of satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
In 1908, an object with a similar size exploded over Siberia, flattening 80 million trees over an area of 2,000 square km (800 square miles) near the Tunguska river.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7921279.stm
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| | | | | | 1.  Aliceinwebland (4906) | 9 months ago |  hi aussies
that's quite scary! After watching a few scary movies of the same scenario, then NO i wouldn't want to know. People such as me, that would be known as - of little worth, wouldn't stand a chance of being selected for survival, so i'd rather go out oblivious.
Alice:(
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| | | 2. dragon54u (9400) | 9 months ago |  Sure, I'd want to know! But they wouldn't tell us, I don't think. People might panic and go nuts. I'd want to know so that I could be with my children when it hits, even though it would mean going back to the desert which I really don't like. Something will probably hit us someday but I doubt it'll be soon.
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| Aliceinwebland (4906) | 9 months ago | good point dragon54u
quick change of mind... yeah i would want to know so i could be with the ones i loved, i just assumed i'd probably be with them anyway. It depends on how much time we'd have. If you thin something will hit us, don't you think they would have the technology to prevent it too?
Alice:) | |
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| dragon54u (9400) | 9 months ago | I think they could hit it--after all, the U.S. Navy hit a satellite with a missile to prevent it plunging to earth. There were some astounding odds against their success but they did it. I would think they could do the same thing with an asteroid or other object. But if not, I'd want to be with my sons. | |
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 Aussies2007 (2918) | 9 months ago | There is actually a good movie which was made about this in 1998.
"Deep Impact"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120647/
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| | | 3. msmell (868) | 9 months ago |  Oh yeah that is a scary thought isn't it and I honestly don't know if I would want to know that something was about to crash into the earth and destroy us??????
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| Aliceinwebland (4906) | 9 months ago | hi msmell
i changed my mind about knowing, see last post. how do you feel about it now? | |
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| | | 4. pergammano (1952) | 9 months ago |  thanks, once again, for the technical data...and it is something to ponder! To be very truthful, I don't want someone running around saying "the sky is falling, the sky is falling"...like Chicken Little! With something this catastrophic, I would sooner be blindsided, as there is only so much "prep" for "disasters" that may or may not happen, that one can do! In this province, we have in place a disaster preparedness plan, complicated but good for unseen disasters such as;fire, earthquake & flooding! I guess I have reached the pentultimate of preparedness, and I am sure if disaster strikes, and I survive, I will have wished I had done more!
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| Aussies2007 (2918) | 9 months ago | This sort of things are actually all about luck.
Missing our planet is pure luck.
And if it hit us... it would wipe out everything on 2000 square miles without affecting the rest of us.
However... it would be worse if it fell in the ocean... as it would create a massive tidal wave affecting many countries.
See one of my comments about the movie "Deep Impact".
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| pergammano (1952) | 9 months ago | I will be going to your comments about "Deep Impact"....but I am so annoyed at myself, last nite on CBC was a great documentary "Shock Wave"...and I slept thru the first half, and it was realy pertinent to my area! When the big one hits, I am half way between the San Andreas and Cascadia fault! Would truly like to watch this one from square one...as I did not realize a lot of things about a Tsunami, in such that ocean shelves, fjords make them more virulent, assisting them to unleash way more power! A lot to digest! Cheers!
I am wracking my brain...and I do not remember "Oz" earthquakes? | |
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| | 5.  aprilten (1049) | 9 months ago |  I saw a movie with that plot. That's too scary. I hope nothing of that huge proportion of danger ever happen to us. Do I want to know? I haven't made up my mind yet. If I know about it what can I do? If I don't...well. I think whether I know about it or not, it doesn't matter because I'm no scientist and I can't do anything about it. Really, I hope it never happens.
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| Aussies2007 (2918) | 9 months ago | Actually... they believe that the extinction of the dinosaurs occured from a big asteroid hitting earth. | |
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| | | 7. suehan1 (1907) | 9 months ago |  gosh that a hard one aussie.i think i would prefer not to know,but then i read every ones comments about being with their loved ones,and changed my mind,then i thought i could not stand to see the fright in their eyes,so i am undecided.i hope it never happens .cheers sue
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