Killer Asteroid Hurtling Toward Earth -- How Worried Should We Be?
by Norman Byrd
A massive aircraft-carrier-sized asteroid is headed in Earth's direction. Scientists say it will not impact the planet but it will pass closer to the Earth than lunar orbit. And it's the largest asteroid that will pass by Earth for the the next decade and a half.
According to the astronomers and scientists at the Near Earth Object (NEO) Project, a gigantic piece of space rock, what could be called a killer asteroid, is barreling through the heavens on its way to a crossing point with Earth orbit. Luckily for the denizens of the third planet from the sun, it will still be .8 lunar distance units (180,000 miles) away from their world when it crosses that orbit point.
NASA classifies asteroid 2005 YU55 as a "potentially hazardous object," but astronomers at NEO maintain that there is no chance of a collision on this passage by the Earth (asteroids and other objects have a gravitational relationship with the sun and, unless interfered with in some way, will usually maintain some type of orbital pattern), rendering the planet safe from 2005 YU55 for at least 100 years.
The NEO Project recently reported the completion of the mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer in identifying and cataloguing near Earth objects. The study found that there were 40 percent fewer mid-range asteroids (from 330 feet in diameter to 3,300 feet) in the solar system than previously theorized and that, of all those asteroids located, none were on a collision course with Earth anytime soon. However, the study also concluded that they had found only 90 percent of the Solar System's asteroids.
Ten percent of the asteroids left undiscovered are massive rocks that could potentially have a devastating effect if they were to collide with Earth.
As to the mid-range asteroid (1,312 feet wide) currently headed in the general direction of Earth, according to CNN, an expert at Purdue University noted that if such a killer asteroid were to impact the planet, it would have the same effect as a 4,000 megaton blast or a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. If the asteroid were to land in the ocean, it could potentially cause a 70-foot high tsunami within 60 miles of the crash epicenter.
To compare, the meteor that is believed to have flashed across the sky in the Tunguska region of Siberia, Russia in 1908 has been estimated to have been only 120 feet in diameter. It has been theorized that the airburst from that blast was the equivalent of 185 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs (releasing energy at an outside range of 18 kilotons per bomb). The remote area saw forests laid low and burned for in a zone measuring 830 square miles from the blast's epicenter. Asteroid 2005 YU55, if it were to impact the Earth, would release energy equivalent to 222,222 Hiroshima-sized bombs.
And that is still far smaller than the Chicxulub asteroid that impacted off the Yucatan peninsula over 65 million years ago and is believed to have been the most significant causal contribution to the massive dinosaur die-off and the K-T mass extinction event. That asteroid was estimated to be 6-9 miles wide, releasing the same energy as a billion Hiroshima-sized atomic blasts.
Not to let an opportunity pass, though, astronomers are expected to take advantage of the near miss passage of the asteroid. It is a rare occasion that scientists are able to view asteroids via optical lenses. NASA will join the skywatch as well, using the Goldstone radar telescopes in the Mojave desert to study the massive space rock. The giant Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico is expected to devote several days to high resolution mapping as well.
Asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass closest to Earth on Nov. 8. It will be a daylight object and those wishing to get a glimpse will have their best chance after 4 p.m. EST.
Massive Tsunami Drill Coincides With Continent Killer Asteroids Close Pass In November
9-10 November 2011: In August 2010, the PTWS Steering Committee (SC) met to discuss the progress of the PTWS during the intersessional period, including the next PTWS exercise. Considering the general objectives of PACWAVE08, the SC approved the PACWAVE Summary Report and requested Working Groups 2 and 3 (Tsunami Detection, Warning and Dissemination; Tsunami Awareness and Response) to cooperate in the preparation of an end-to-end communication exercise PACWAVE11 in November 2011. The actual evacuation of local communities (or parts of it) will be left to the decision of local or national authorities. A PTWS Exercises Task Team was formed, chaired by ITIC and New Zealand, to organize the exercise and elaborate on detailed scenarios.PacWave11 will be held on 9-10 November 2011 as a multi-scenario exercise that will allow all PTWS countries to exercise using a destructive local or regional tsunami scenario. PacWave 11 will also be used to introduce new tsunami advisory products of the PTWC that were proposed by the PTWS Enhanced Tsunami Warning Products Task Team and approved by ICG/PTWS-XXIV. IOC Circular Letter 2390 was issued on 13 May 2011 announcing the exercise and requesting PTWS Countries to nominate a PacWave11 focal point. IOC Manual and Guides 58 on How to Plan, Conduct, and Evaluate Tsunami Exercises was issued in July 2011. The PacWave11 Exercise Manual (IOC TS 97) was published in August 2011. UNESCO will issue a press release on 1 November 2011.
Previously on Wednesday October 12, 2011 twenty countries participated in an advanced tsunami drill in wake of recent earth changes.
It is well known that earthquake activity has increased ever so rapidly over the past few years/months and now multiple countries are interested in tracking tsunamis in an advanced way.
A Voice of America excerpt reads;
The new system will shift responsibility from United States and Japan to the countries most at risk in the region.
Wednesday’s drill marked a significant development for the ability of countries in the Indian Ocean region to detect and respond to earthquakes and tsunamis. Stuart Weinstein, the deputy director of the United States’ Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii says the warning centers participating in the drill in Indonesia, India and Australia did not exist before the 2004 Tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people in 12 countries.
Does this system test have anything to do with the passing of the massive continent killer asteroid 2005 YU55 that will pass very close to earth possibly striking or dragging debris with it on November 9, 2011, in conjunction with the FEMA/FCC takeover drill?
According to Laaska News;
Vietnam has held its first-ever tsunami evacuation drills in the central coastal city of Danang. The drills were carried out Tuesday for a scenario that saw the country hit by a huge tsunami like the one that devastated Japan earlier this year.
A UN report issued after Japan’s March 11th disaster says that an 8-point-6 magnitude earthquake in waters off the Philippines could trigger a 3- to 10-meter tall tsunami along the coastal regions of Vietnam.
Interestingly enough the major Japanese tsunami that struck in March of 1022 was within a few days of a major ELENIN alignment according to NASA’s JPL data.
The Hindu reads;
The mock tsunami drill has been conducted to check the preparedness of officials of various departments along with the communication systems and to simulate the evacuation and rescue mission that will take place in case of an actual tsunami,” according to commandant of the India Reserve Battalion, Puducherry, A. Anto Alphonse.
In this case, the Tsunami Warning centre issued a warning of an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, which caused a tsunami. This warning was received by the Senior Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) V. J. Chandiran along with the emergency centres in the town, according to Sub Collector A. Muthamma.
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