Posted on 05/24/2013 10:44:22 AM PDT by Red Badger
It's 1.7 miles long. Its surface is covered in a sticky black substance similar to the gunk at the bottom of a barbecue. If it impacted Earth it would probably result in global extinction. Good thing it is just making a flyby.
Asteroid 1998 QE2 will make its closest pass to Earth on May 31 at 1:59 p.m. PDT.
Scientists are not sure where this unusually large space rock, which was discovered 15 years ago, originated. But the mysterious sooty substance on its surface could indicate it may be a result of a comet that flew too close to the sun, said Amy Mainzer, who tracks near-Earth objects at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge, Calif. It might also have leaked out of the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, she said.
We will know more after the asteroid zips closer to Earth and scientists using the Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif., and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico can get a better look at it. Astronomers at both observatories plan to track it closely from May 30 to June 9, according to a JPL release.
At its closest approach the asteroid will still be 3.6 million miles from our planet (about 15 times the distance between the Earth and the moon), but it will be close enough for these powerful radar antennas to see features as small as 12 feet across.
"With radar we can transform an object from a point of light into a small world with its own characteristics," Lance Benner, JPL's principal investigator for Goldstone radar observations, said in a statement.
There is no chance that asteroid 1998 QE2 could collide with Earth this go-around, and its next close approach won't be until 2119.
Still, Mainzer said the size of the asteroid, and its potential for mass destruction, should remind us that there are some scary things flying around in space.
"This is a really big asteroid, similar in size to the one that killed off the dinosaurs, and it's getting very close to us," she said. "Fortunately we've been tracking its orbit very carefully so we know with great certainty it won't hit us.
"We don't need to panic, but we do need to pay attention," she said.
But Asteroids Geitherner QE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are already wrecking havoc on this planet.
“Black sticky stuff”
Is this an elephant joke? But with asteroids? Where is the punch line?
Oh, it’s Barack Obama and the laugh is on us.
That's one of my biggest fear in life, losing internet access. Is there one of those phobia names for that? LOL
The one that took out the dinosaurs was estimated at about six miles in size; at 1.7 miles this one is a poor challenger. And the mammals and numerous reptiles survived, somehow.
If it impacted Earth it would probably result in global warming extinction...........there, fixed it......
I heard that.. woo hooo.. Bring it on!!
uhh
Oh wait, Does Nasa know?
better check the survival pods&kits
there’s a big comet flying by Mars later this summer that mat even provide a light show in space.. or so says one chap on coast to coast insomnia radio
I remote viewed the Tunguska explosion of ‘08 thru a past life regression and kneedeep hypnosis and some really good Mescal once.. woooiieee.. what a hangover..
Oh, asteroid! I thought it said dark, massive a$$, and I was wondering how Moochelle was flying. Got the broomstick out again?
It's 1.7 miles long. Its surface is covered in a sticky black substance similar to the gunk at the bottom of a barbecue.
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