Asteroid Could Hit Mars on January 30th? Want to plan an Internet party?

[Radio_Lady]

Wednesday, January 30th. It's the middle of a work week.

Will it be visible in North America during the nighttime?

Or anywhere in the world? What telescopes will be pointed at this event if it should happen?

What are your thoughts?


Picture indicates track of the asteroid on approach to Mars.

From THE FUTURE OF THINGS --- http://www.tfot.info/news/1082/asteroid-to-hit-mars.html

This past November, the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona discovered an asteroid receding from the Earth, heading towards Mars with. Astronomers estimate there is a one in 25 (four percent) chance of that this asteroid will directly hit the red planet in early 2008. The asteroid, which has been named 2007 WD5, is considered highly unusual, as NASA astronomer Steve Chesley recently explained: "We’re used to dealing with odds like one-in-a-million and we estimate such impacts occur on Mars every thousand years or so".

The asteroid, which was discovered by the US space agency’s Near Earth Object Program (NEOP), is considered to be of no threat to Earth. Despite this, the asteroid has been put on a “watch list”, as it is a member of an interesting class of small objects that are both near-Earth objects and "Mars crossers."

NEOP scientists say that the asteroid’s exact course is difficult to predict, but there is a chance it will crash into Mars on January 30th, producing a crater 1 kilometer in diameter. The impact itself could release over three megatons of energy and is comparable to the Tunguska event of 1908 in Siberia, Russia. Unlike the Tunguska event, where the impacting object was disintegrated before it hit the Earth, Mars’ atmosphere is much thinner and therefore it is likeier that the asteroid will hit the planet's surface.

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If this is old news, please EEXXXXXXCCCCCUUUUSSSSEE ME. I've been in Florida for a couple of weeks, surrounded by sun, sand, ocean and Disney revelers.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. It's gonna wipe out the Martian dinosaurs!!

:rofl:

Part of me hopes that it does hit the planet - it'll be a good scientific moment so see such a collision, and would probably help us in parsing past collisions on earth.

Exciting!

[Radio_Lady]

2. Yes, but what an endless source for the new food delight... DINOJERKY!

Do you like your jerky Spicy or Mild?

:rofl:

[Radio_Lady]

3. Just a 4 percent chance of this happening...

That's about what I figure is my chance of getting a new pet or a paying job. Oh, maybe I should make that .4%.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/mars-20071221.html

Astronomers Monitor Asteroid to Pass Near Mars

Updated Dec. 28, 2007 -- Astronomers have identified asteroid 2007 WD 5 in archival imagery. With these new observations, scientists at NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif have refined their trajectory estimates for the asteroid. Based on this latest analysis, the odds for the asteroid impacting Mars on Jan. 30 are now 1-in-25 -- or about 4 percent.

For more information, visit the Near-Earth Object Program site at http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ .

WASHINGTON - Astronomers funded by NASA are monitoring the trajectory of an asteroid estimated to be 50 meters (164 feet) wide that is expected to cross Mars' orbital path early next year. Observations provided by the astronomers and analyzed by NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., indicate the object may pass within 30,000 miles of Mars at about 6 a.m. EST (3 a.m. PST) on Jan. 30, 2008.

"Right now asteroid 2007 WD5 is about half-way between Earth and Mars and closing the distance at a speed of about 27,900 miles per hour," said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object Office at JPL. "Over the next five weeks, we hope to gather more information from observatories so we can further refine the asteroid's trajectory."

[Deja Q]

4. Gee. Even Mars gets hit on more than I do.

:spray: