Posted on 12/23/2004 7:36:30 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The object, named 2004 YD5, was about 16 feet (5 meters) wide, though that's a rough estimate based on its distance and assumed reflectivity. Had it entered the atmosphere, it would have exploded high up, experts figure. The asteroid passed just under the orbits of geostationary satellites, which at 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) altitude are the highest manmade objects circling Earth. Most other satellites, along with the International Space Station, circle the planet at just a few hundred miles up... the second closest pass of an asteroid ever observed by telescope, according to the Asteroid/Comet Connection, a web site that monitors space rock discoveries. The closest involved a rock that flew by last March and was not announced until August.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
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It has here - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1307230/posts . You're an hour and four minutes too late!
Probably has something to do with this:
"TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events"
Foreign affairs? Culture/Society? How about, Astronomy, or Science, or even UFOs?
Thanks regardless. Still, my topic's better, nyah nyah.
The rock approached Earth from near the Sun and so would have been nearly impossible to detect prior to close passage. It soared over Antarctica... Astronomers are aware of this significant blind spot for asteroids that approach Earth while in the glare of the Sun. Only a space telescope could detect such objects before they arrive.emphasis added:
The Risk To Civilization From Extraterrestrial ObjectsDuring a week-long period, the comet fragments plunged at 60 km/sec into the southerly latitudes of Jupiter, just around Jupiter's horizon as observed from Earth. Fortunately, the Galileo spacecraft, enroute to its 1996/7 orbital tour of Jupiter, was off to the side and had a direct view of the impact sites. Moreover, the resulting explosions were so enormous that they erupted into direct view from Earthbased observatories (including Hubble Space Telescope), as well... There is now nearly unanimous agreement among researchers, who have considered the matter from many different aspects, that even the largest of the individual comet fragments that struck Jupiter were less than 1 km in diameter, and probably only a few hundred meters in diameter... [T]he famous "black spots" left in Jupiter's stratosphere by the impacts of several of these largest fragments (e.g. those given the designations G, L, and K) had dimensions comparable to that of the whole planet Earth. Instead of being spread out on Jupiter's broad face, the analogous impacts on Earth would have wrapped a pall of stratospheric haze around the entire globe. On Jupiter, the black material gradually dispersed -- first longitudinally and then latitudinally -- over successive months. However, even as I write this account two years after the impacts, prominent evidence of the impacts remains in Jupiter's atmosphere. Whereas the visible blackening has faded to near the threshold of visibility, the spectroscopic signatures of certain gaseous species may even be still increasing!
and Implications of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet Crash
by Clark R. Chapman
Quick, call the Starship Troopers! ;')
from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=meteorite
'A Meteorite Smashed Through My Roof' (New Orleans)
BBC | 10-6-2003
Posted on 10/06/2003 9:01:33 AM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/996064/posts
Asteroid Gives Earth Closest Shave In Years! (Rock Misses Earth By A Whisker!)
Space Daily, via Drudge | June 20, 2002 | Richard Ingham
Posted on 06/20/2002 6:33:11 PM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/703439/posts
Earth's Volcanism Linked To Meteorite Impacts
New Scientist | 12-13-2002 | Kate Ravilious
Posted on 12/13/2002 8:36:39 AM PST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/805952/posts
Grapefruit-Sized Meteorite Smashes Through NZ Home
Reuters | 6/13/04
Posted on 06/13/2004 1:16:26 AM PDT by freebilly
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1152679/posts
'House-sized' meteorite hits
news.com.au | June 17, 2004 | From news.com.au staff and AAP
Posted on 06/17/2004 8:34:50 PM PDT by BenLurkin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1155617/posts
Meteorite hits outside Chicago
CBS,NBC,ABC,FOX local Chicago | 3-27-03 | N/A
Posted on 03/27/2003 3:49:45 AM PST by JustPiper
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/876978/posts
Scientists Find Evidence Of Meteorite That Struck Earth 3.5 Billion Years Ago
Independent (UK) | 8-23-2002 | Steve Connor
Posted on 08/22/2002 4:25:40 PM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/737825/posts
SECOND MASS EXTINCTION LINKED TO COSMIC IMPACT
Nature Science Update | 13 June 2003 | JOHN WHITFIELD
Posted on 06/17/2003 7:48:04 AM PDT by Mike Darancette
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/930505/posts
SIBERIA METEORITE FLATTENS 40 SQ MILES
The Times | 7 June 2003 | Robin Shepherd
Posted on 06/09/2003 5:25:21 PM PDT by Mike Darancette
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/926025/posts
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