Finding NEOs. Worst case scenarion....

[spacefire]

With current technology, what's the LATEST we can find an asteroid bound to hit Earth?<br />That is, worst case scenario, what kind of warning would we get? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[nexium]

It is hard to put an exact number on least possible warning, but one minute before impact is possible, perhaps likely for an asteroid that destroys one house or a city block. The first clue might be when the asteroid becomes white hot due to passing though Earth's atmosphere.<br />Most killed people will get nanoseconds of warning as the asteroid or a fragment burts though their ceiling. Our media cannot inform us of events that were brought to their attention one minute ago.<br />How about 20 buttons at each radio and TV station that interupt the audio to yell "duck"? Neil

 

[robnissen]

It is also possible that there could be very little warning for a catastrophic asteroid if it came at earth directly from the sun.

 

[spacefire]

but in that case, wouldn't all the instruments we have poiting at the sun be able to detect it on the background of the Sun? I mean, we can detect planets around other stars by measuring the change in sunlight, we should be able to detect a NEO like that.... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>