Thread: Asteroid may hit Mars

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/asteroi...00010000000001

By ALICIA CHANG,AP
Posted: 2007-12-21 10:01:04
Filed Under: Science News
LOS ANGELES (Dec. 21) - Mars could be in for an asteroid hit.

A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said Thursday.

"These odds are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November and is similar in size to an object that hit remote central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees.

Scientists tracking the asteroid, currently halfway between Earth and Mars, initially put the odds of impact at 1 in 350 but increased the chances this week. Scientists expect the odds to diminish again early next month after getting new observations of the asteroid's orbit, Chesley said.

"We know that it's going to fly by Mars and most likely going to miss, but there's a possibility of an impact," he said.

If the asteroid does smash into Mars, it will probably hit near the equator close to where the rover Opportunity has been exploring the Martian plains since 2004. The robot is not in danger because it lies outside the impact zone. Speeding at 8 miles a second, a collision would carve a hole the size of the famed Meteor Crater in Arizona.

In 1994, fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smacked into Jupiter, creating a series of overlapping fireballs in space. Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.

"Unlike an Earth impact, we're not afraid, but we're excited," Chesley said.

Better Mars than us

Part of me hopes it does hit Mars, it'll be one helluva show

I wonder if a meteor like that would throw a planet out of it's orbit a little bit. It'd be pretty cool if we could watch that through a telescope.

Originally Posted by Bronco4ever

I wonder if a meteor like that would throw a planet out of it's orbit a little bit. It'd be pretty cool if we could watch that through a telescope.

Nah. I don't really think so. If I remember correctly, from reading the article, the asteroid is about the same size as the one that hit Siberia not that long ago.

You would shat your britches if you could see how bright Mars is here. The base here is pretty dark at night and most of the lights are orange, so they don't brighten the sky or distort your night vision near as bad as white lights do. It gets dark around 5pm and Mars starts to come over the Eastern sky around 7pm. Around 11pm it's at about a 10 o'clock position as if you're standing facing south and looking straight up. It's just this big, steady, orange spot in the sky. I wish I had my Meade here with me.

I'm just sitting here tapping my toes....

Waiting.......

waiting to hear how this will tie into our global warming.

Originally Posted by Jody

I'm just sitting here tapping my toes....

Waiting.......

waiting to hear how this will tie into our global warming.

I can just see Al protesting at ground zero

Kind of scary.