Astronomers have been closely monitoring Bennu, which swings close to Earth every six years. However, the real cause for concern arises from the possibility that on September 24, 2182, Bennu could collide with our planet with a force equivalent to 22 atomic bombs. While the odds of such a catastrophic strike are estimated at 1 in 2,700, NASA is not taking any chances.

  • Kalash@feddit.ch
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    1 year ago

    a force equivalent to 22 atomic bombs.

    What kind of murica unit is this?

    Also there is a pretty big difference between 22 Davy Crocketts and 22 Tsar Bombas.

    • AggressivelyPassive@feddit.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      22
      ·
      1 year ago

      A Davy Crockett is 254 square inch per fahrenheit-crocodiles, so we’re obviously talking about an explosion of roughly 76 cubic pound per school shooting.

    • WingedThing@lemmy.one
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 year ago

      Comparing high-energy events, especially ones that cause destruction, to weapons that have been used is very common, not just in “murica”

      The lack of specificity as to what kind of atomic bomb is silly, though.

      • Kalash@feddit.ch
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yeah, usually you put it into TNT equivalants. Which in itself isn’t useful, but it allows me to look up which order of magnituted of atomic bomb we’re talking about. And somebody actually put in the work and it is 22 of the biggest bombs ever. (which ironically are Sovjet, not Murican).

        Anyway, It was really just a cheap “Americans don’t use metric joke”, don’t overthink it.

      • ink@r.nf
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Comparing high-energy events, especially ones that cause destruction, to weapons that have been used is very common, not just in “murica”

        can you provide a few examples?

    • Kaldo@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      1 year ago

      I really need to hear how many football fields can fit on this asteroid before being able to judge its size

    • unix84@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      The same kind that lists the Empire State Building in the headline, like it’s the 1930s and that’s still impressive.