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Monday, March 11, 2013

Asteroids Anyone?

Photo: Huffington Post

 2012 had some people worried that the world would end on December 21, and I have to admit I was a wee bit relieved when nothing happened. Then 2013 came rushing in with meteorite explosions, awfully close asteroid flybys and the appearance of not one, but two comets! Is it just me, or does this sound like the prelude of a Deep Impact-ish movie? I know that our solar system is home to numerous rogue rocky and icy objects, and that keeping track of all of them is probably impossible, but I never remember hearing about so many potentially cataclysmic space objects in all of my life!  Two comets in the same year? Really? Could we be experiencing an omen of sorts? Harbingers or not, folks have a variety of opinions on the subject. Here is a sample of what some of London's Telegraph subscribers think of all the recent asteroid activity:




Humans appear too dim to survive. How many more warnings do we need to take protective measures for the entire planet, costing less than 2 squadrons of Raptors?


ExasperatedMe
Today 04:08 AM


Bit of a lottery this business of big bits hurtling through space while smaller bits hurtle past, occasionally the bits collide to form a bigger bit...
Bit scary!

...While Huffington Post commenter's expressed the following opinions:

  11 hours ago (11:31 AM)
Asteroids are a hazard and I get that we need to do more to mitigate such a threat. But an asteroid that passes us by several hundred thousand miles is not a close call. As long as it's not an imminent danger, we don't need to hear about it.


HellBank
21 hours ago ( 1:07 AM)
 Ltely I've been having dreams I'm a dinosaur. I wonder what that means. 
 
DXM 

10:16 AM on 03/10/2013
We are seeing more of these threatening asteroids because our search programs are slowly improving (and since 2012 DA14 and the Russian meteor, the media is reporting these more).


Whatever the reasons for all of the recent asteroid and meteorite activity, it seems like the appropriate season for watching dated asteroid apocalyptic movies. Sure everyone has seen these, but what's better than having a healthy discussion about Earth's impact history with family and friends and then watching Bruce Willis trying to save the world in Armageddon? Here's a list for your next "Asteroid" party:

Armageddon (1998)
Deep Impact (1998)
Meteorites (1998)
Doomsday Rock (1997)
Asteroid (1997)

 Image:
www.daviddarling.info

 






 


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