NASA confirms the 60-meter (197-feet) asteroid, noticed by Spanish stargazers in February, features a sensible probability of colliding with Earth in eleven months.
The rock's closest approach to the world is scheduled for February fifteen, 2013, when area|the gap} between the world and space wanderer are beneath twenty seven,000 km (16,700 miles). this can be not up to the geosynchronous orbit kept by the Google Maps satellite.
Fireworks and watercolors
With the asteroid zooming that low, it'll be too late to try to to something with it besides making an attempt to predict its final destination and therefore the consequences of impact.
A spaceship is required, specialists agree. It may shoot the rock down or simply crash into it, either breaking the asteroid into debris or throwing it off beam.
"We may paint it," says NASA professional David Dunham.
Paint would have an effect on the asteroid's ability to replicate daylight, changing its temperature and altering its spin. The asteroid would stalk off its current course, however this might conjointly create the boulder even additional dangerous when it comes back in 2056, Aleksandr Devaytkin, the top of the observatory in Russia's Pulkovo, told Izvestia.
Spaceship impossible?
Whatever the mission, building a spaceship to manage 2012 DA14 can take 2 years - a minimum of.
The asteroid has proven a bitter discovery. it's been circling in orbit for 3 years already, crossing Earth's path many times, says house analyst Sergey Naroenkov from the Russian Academy of Sciences. It appears that recognizing danger from outer house continues to be the world where mere probability reigns, whereas asteroid defense systems exist solely in drafts.
Still, prospects of meeting 2012 DA14 aren't all doom and gloom.
"The asteroid could split into items coming into the atmosphere. during this case, most a part of it'll never reach the planet's surface," remarks Dunham.
But if the whole asteroid is to crash into the world, the impact are as laborious as within the Tunguska blast, that in 1908 knocked down trees over a complete space of two,150 sq km (830 sq miles) in Siberia. this can be nearly the scale of Luxembourg. In today's case, the destination of the asteroid is nevertheless to be determined.
Comment: SOTT considers it highly unlikely that this asteroid can impact earth. we've got had shut misses within the past. 28000km is actually a comparatively short distance, it's concerning seven-membered of the Earth-Moon distance, however please bear in mind we tend to had had an excellent nearer miss last year at four-dimensional Lunar distance: shut Shave
For the instant it's out of the question to predict precisely how this object can act when it gets near Earth due to the assorted gravitational and non-gravitational perturbations. thus wait and see as usual.
We should be additional worried concerning those things we do not see...
