That's... not how it works. At all.
Quote from: KirklandSignature on Feb 16, 2013, 05:20:58 AM
So we currently have no way of knowing when or where a celestial object will strike?
We do have ways of knowing when or where they will strike, if we happen to see the asteroid beforehand. Thing is, most asteroids are very, very tiny; and so are very, very hard to detect. That thing over Russia was between 15 and 17 metres diameter; smaller than a house, in other words. Keep in mind that most asteroids are also very non-reflective. Anything that small is near-impossible to keep track of. However, we have a good idea of where the really monstrous ones (kilometres in diameter) are that come into near Earth orbit, so we have fair warning about them.
Quote from: KirklandSignature on Feb 16, 2013, 05:20:58 AM
Shouldn't it be like predicting the weather?
Astronomy is not at all like meteorology; so, no, it's nothing like predicting the weather. Not even remotely. Celestial trajectories rely upon relatively simple Newtonian physics to be calculated. Weather patterns are a complex combination of geography, solar distribution, prevailing winds, air chemistry, and a whole shitload of other variables working together in a giant chaotic interaction.
Quote from: KirklandSignature on Feb 16, 2013, 05:20:58 AM
Maybe those big satellite dish things could focus on those instead of non existent alien
radio signals.
Those "big satellite dish things" are radio telescopes. They're good for looking at deep space. Asteroids are not in deep space. Diverting the SETI telescopes to searching for asteroids would accomplish jack-shit.
