Close Encounter With A Asteroid

[Waveform]

On the night of March 1st (2nd UTC) we will have a small asteroid pass by us very close. At this point it looks like .00030 lunar distances.

Sort of neat to see something like this once in awhile although this is calling it kind of close.

Unfortunately, (or better still most fortunately) it is small enough it will probably not be visible to the unaided eye.

If it was big enough to be readily seen it may have a posed much bigger problems.....

LOL, things like this put everything in perspective. Sort of show us once in a while where we are on the 'pecking' order.

[flagpole]

Gosh!

[Icer]

So it wont hit?

[BARRY]

That is mighty close,At the moment their are 1032 potential hazardous asteroids out there,As of 28 feb 2009

[Waveform]

So it wont hit?

No, it just will pass very close.

[Icer]

Thats good!

[stella]

"On the night of March 1st (2nd UTC) we will have a small asteroid pass by us very close. At this point it looks like .00030 lunar distances."

One lunar distance is 384,000 km.

So .0003 lunar distances is (.0003x384,000) km

=115.2 km.

Earth's radius is 6378.2 km at equator.

So the asteroid is 6263 km beneath the surface.

:blush:

[snowsure]

On the night of March 1st (2nd UTC) we will have a small asteroid pass by us very close. At this point it looks like .00030 lunar distances.

Sort of neat to see something like this once in awhile although this is calling it kind of close.

Unfortunately, (or better still most fortunately) it is small enough it will probably not be visible to the unaided eye.

If it was big enough to be readily seen it may have a posed much bigger problems.....

LOL, things like this put everything in perspective. Sort of show us once in a while where we are on the 'pecking' order.

I might have missed the asteroid that you refer to Waveform. It couldn't be the same as this could it:

ASTEROID FLYBY: Asteroid 2009 DD45 zipped past Earth today, March 2nd at 1340 UT, about 72,000 km (0.00048 AU) away. That's only twice the height of a geostationary communications satellite. The 35-meter-wide space rock is similar in size to the Tunguska impactor of 1908, but today there was no danger of a collision--just a close shave. Experienced amateur astronomers can track the asteroid receding from Earth using this ephemeris. (http://www.spaceweather.com/)

A slight difference in the value of closest approach.

[mezzacyclone]

I might have missed the asteroid that you refer to Waveform. It couldn't be the same as this could it:

ASTEROID FLYBY: Asteroid 2009 DD45 zipped past Earth today, March 2nd at 1340 UT, about 72,000 km (0.00048 AU) away. That's only twice the height of a geostationary communications satellite. The 35-meter-wide space rock is similar in size to the Tunguska impactor of 1908, but today there was no danger of a collision--just a close shave. Experienced amateur astronomers can track the asteroid receding from Earth using this ephemeris. (http://www.spaceweather.com/)

A slight difference in the value of closest approach.

Yup, this was the one snowsure > Fox news link

"A small nuclear blast" would have been the equivelant if it hit Earth! Would like to know the KT`s then?

fascinating!

[Pennine Ten Foot Drifts]

Well to be honest I'm amazed this wasn't more widely publicised - in terms of relative distances this was a miss by a hair's breadth, and whilst I guess a 'miss is as good as a mile', if it had hit, and actually hit a heavily populated area, it would have been a cataclysmic disaster. And every 'close shave' which goes by brings the eventual (and inevitable) 'hit' that bit closer.

[summer blizzard]

What other asteriods are near to earth??

[mettalfabrik]

thousands of em

check this out http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/

then check out the APOPHIS link at the bottom' possible armeggedon baby!!!

Edited April 15, 2009 by blackdown

[summer blizzard]

Very interesting, however for an extinction event to occur, we really need one at least a mile in diameter, are there any such ones on near earth orbits??

[full_frontal_occlusion]

Very interesting, however for an extinction event to occur, we really need one at least a mile in diameter, are there any such ones on near earth orbits??

Near Earth Asteroid designated 2004 MN4 will pass within 20,000 miles in 2029 with the possibility of impact in 2036.

For a brief period after discovery, the asteroid reached Torino Impact Scale 4 - the highest ever recorded for a NEO. (i.e. a 1% or greater chance of collision capable of regional devastation.)

The asteroid is estimated to be between 350 - 450 metres diameter with an energy release 5 times that of Krakatoa and equivalent to a 900 megaton nuclear bomb.

ffO.

[summer blizzard]

Would no doubt damage an are the size of Australia but i'm many interested in the extinction causing asteriods.

[Anti-Mild]

Check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_earth_as...lose_approaches

And it's from this page that I quote:

"On March 23, 1989 the 300 meter (1,000-foot) diameter Apollo asteroid 4581 Asclepius (1989 FC) missed the Earth by 700,000 kilometers (400,000 miles) passing through the exact position where the Earth was only 6 hours before. If the asteroid had impacted it would have created the largest explosion in recorded history, thousands of times more powerful than the Tsar Bomba".

Pretty chilling stuff! There's absolutely no doubt that a catastrophic collision will occur at some stage in the future, the only question is will the human race still be around to be affected?

[Gray-Wolf]

We shouldn't remain ignorant of the threat that Comets bring to us. If one were to approach shielded by the sun we would have very little warning of it's approach and seeing as so many un-plotted 'orbits' of so many un-plotted comets exist the NEO's pale into insignificance (IMHO) :lol:

[flagpole]

Of course a giant asteroid strike would probably wipe out bird flu too so it's not all bad.

[full_frontal_occlusion]

We could aways start a new conspiracy theory:

"Space faring nations scramble to colonise moon before asterod impact wipes out life on earth."

If you read the above, you must e-mail it to at least ten of your friends or else something terribly bad will happen to you in 2036.

Lets see how fast this one can take hold.

ffO.

[Methuselah]

We could aways start a new conspiracy theory:

"Space faring nations scramble to colonise moon before asterod impact wipes out life on earth."

If you read the above, you must e-mail it to at least ten of your friends or else something terribly bad will happen to you in 2036.

Lets see how fast this one can take hold.

ffO.

Why are we discussing this? The world's going to end in 2012!

[mettalfabrik]

jeez pete i was going to post the same thing last night but thought nobody would know ,you do mean the aztec or is it mayan?

calender prophesy thing don,t you?

[Waveform]

I think there are two things on the go here.

The great impending catastrophe of 2012. The Mayan calendar thing, which for the want of a better term is absolutely nuts.

The other event would be the Apopis asteroid pass.

This one is not from the nutter society.

Apopis is a 300-meter-wide asteroid. On April 13 2029 will pass by extremely close to us, as asteroids go.

In fact it's track will actually be closer to us then our geosynchronous satellites. It will pass between the satellites orbit and us.

Should be a bright as a 3rd or 2nd magnitude star.

This 2029 close pass will slightly alter the orbit of the asteroid. This will determine what events will unfold in 2036.

LOL, April 13 2029 will be a Friday.....

[mettalfabrik]

all you want know about Apophis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

[Methuselah]

jeez pete i was going to post the same thing last night but thought nobody would know ,you do mean the aztec or is it mayan?

calender prophesy thing don,t you?

Aye, Blackdown. The Mayan thingy... :huh:

[mettalfabrik]

thought so! i always like to think that the mayan thingy calender stops at 2012 cos they ran out of paper,or should that be clay tablets my calender stops on dec 31st beginning to worry abit!!