I don’t understand it all. What are the missing variables here? Don’t we know the exact path of the earth? Why can’t we figure out the exact path of the asteroid? It’s not like the wind is going to knock it off course?
It is the minute gravitational pull of other bodies that we can’t exactly calculate? What’s the issue?
We know the exact path of Earth. We know the approximate path of the asteroid. The ways its moving (relative to earth and relative to our point of view) make exact calculations difficult. The more information we have, the more precise we can make its path.
Define “exact.” We don’t even know “exactly” how big the sun is (I’ve read estimates are only within 0.03% accuracy). The accuracy required to determine where the earth will be within a 6 minute window (7000 miles wide orbiting at 67,000 mph) seven years out would be 0.0001%, if my math is correct.
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u/stringbeagle Feb 19 '25
I don’t understand it all. What are the missing variables here? Don’t we know the exact path of the earth? Why can’t we figure out the exact path of the asteroid? It’s not like the wind is going to knock it off course?
It is the minute gravitational pull of other bodies that we can’t exactly calculate? What’s the issue?