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 the Tunguska object that hit remote central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb that wiped out 60 million trees.
Scientists tracking the asteroid, which is halfway to Mars, initially put the odds of impact at 1 in 350 and increased the chances this week after analyzing the data. 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'll likely aim 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 13 kilometres a second, a collision would carve a hole the size of the famed Meteor Crater in Arizona.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071220/mars_asteroid_071220/20071220?hub=TopStories
Forgive my ignorance, but what are the chances of observing the event, if it happens? And who will do it? It will be a splendiferous happening. And how DOES one use one of those face icons on a message/post/reply ?? It won`t drag down on my laptop.
Hope everyone had a super Christmas, and have a Happy New Year.
Afternoon Doug,
I reckon that the likes of us won't stand a chance to view any impact, but I'm sure that if it is at all possible, there will will be plenty of BIG scopes staring at it and taking the appropriate images - could make for some good TV :)
Which brings me on to little faces - Just click on them, the forum form inserts a couple of characters in the message which look like the faces when posted to the forum.
A smiley face :) puts "colon" and a "close bracket"
Mick
:) Thanks for the infomation Mike about the Mars impact (and the smileys). I just hope that when and if it happens somebody sees it through a `scope and it does go on television. Should be a wow!!
I think the chances of seeing this are incredibly slim. Mars is a tiny object as it is and any impact flash would last milliseconds and not be very bright at that distance. One of the large ground or space based scopes might see something but I doubt very much an amateur could see anything personally. Would be great if we could though.