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A Sneaky Asteroid Buzzed By Earth Yesterday
Smithsonianmag.com ^ | 10 Jan, 2016 | Jason Daley

Posted on 01/11/2017 10:29:01 AM PST by MtnClimber

Monday at 7:47 A.M. EST, an asteroid passed by Earth at about half the distance between our planet and the Moon—roughly 119,500 miles, reports Mike Wall at Space.com. The space rock, dubbed 2017 AG13 was on the "smallish" size as far as asteroids go, Wall reports, thought to be between 36 and 111 feet wide.

But the most interesting thing about this near miss is that astronomers didn't spot the space rock till Saturday. It managed to fly under the radar for so long because the asteroid was fairly dim and moving fast (roughly ten miles per second). But just days before it passed us by, researchers at University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey caught a glimpse.

According to astronomer Eric Edelman at the Slooh Observatory, 2017 AG13 is an Aten asteroid, or a space rock with an orbital distance from the sun similar to that of Earth. AG13 also has a particularly elliptical orbit, which means that as it circles the sun it also crosses through the orbits of both Venus and Earth.

(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy
KEYWORDS: asteroid
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1 posted on 01/11/2017 10:29:01 AM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

I wonder how much Earth’s gravity changed it’s orbit?


2 posted on 01/11/2017 10:29:52 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
Logo
3 posted on 01/11/2017 10:30:01 AM PST by jerod (Socialism=Governance by Government - The National Socialist German Workers' Party is a good example.)
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To: MtnClimber

>>I wonder how much Earth’s gravity changed it’s orbit?<<

CO2 attracted it.

AGW attracts meteors!


4 posted on 01/11/2017 10:30:55 AM PST by freedumb2003 (obozo: not just the worst president in American history - worst *American* in American history (turf)
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To: MtnClimber

Russian asteroid


5 posted on 01/11/2017 10:31:37 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Abortion is what slavery was: immoral but not illegal. Not yet.)
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To: MtnClimber
It managed to fly under the radar

Misuse of idiomatic expression.

6 posted on 01/11/2017 10:33:32 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Abortion is what slavery was: immoral but not illegal. Not yet.)
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To: MtnClimber

Moving at 36K miles per hour.

That could have made a mess had it struck...


7 posted on 01/11/2017 10:34:14 AM PST by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: ClearCase_guy

It does not manage anything. It does not fly. And its over human radar.


8 posted on 01/11/2017 10:36:36 AM PST by poinq
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To: jonno

Yep, if it hits earth we will lose a lot of dinosaurs.


9 posted on 01/11/2017 10:37:20 AM PST by poinq
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To: poinq

And democraps.


10 posted on 01/11/2017 10:43:10 AM PST by Pit1 (CROOKED HILLARY. Has such a nice ring to it. CROOKED HILLARY.)
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To: jonno
"Moving at 36K miles per hour. That could have made a mess had it struck..."

An asteroid of that size (about 50 ft. diameter) and velocity (36k mph) is equivalent to about 500 kilotons of TNT. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima as a comparison was about 15 kilotons of TNT. The average interval between impacts of this size somewhere on Earth is 58.5 years.

Impact Earth! Very cool simulator

11 posted on 01/11/2017 10:55:49 AM PST by Godebert (CRUZ: Born in a foreign land to a foreign father.)
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To: poinq
It does not fly.

Would "zipped by" have been more appropriate, or even "scooted by"?

12 posted on 01/11/2017 10:58:29 AM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: MtnClimber
passed by Earth at about half the distance between our planet and the Moon

I'm thankful it wasn't closer, otherwise this asteroid could have put our asterisk.

13 posted on 01/11/2017 11:09:06 AM PST by Constitution Day (Never begin a vast project with half-vast ideas.)
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To: Constitution Day

Had to read that a few times... lol


14 posted on 01/11/2017 11:11:24 AM PST by Az Joe (11-8-2016-----We're still here President Reagan!!)
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To: MtnClimber

between 36 and 111 feet wide

That’s an awful big variance.


15 posted on 01/11/2017 11:12:25 AM PST by rfreedom4u (The root word of vigilante is vigilant!)
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To: Godebert

Cool indeed - thanks!


16 posted on 01/11/2017 11:12:43 AM PST by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: Godebert

Similar to the Tanguska impact in 1908?


17 posted on 01/11/2017 11:14:19 AM PST by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam. Buy ammo.")
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To: MtnClimber
Astronomer's reaction:


18 posted on 01/11/2017 11:18:32 AM PST by PLMerite (Lord, let me die fighting lions. Amen.)
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To: Az Joe

;) I couldn’t resist.


19 posted on 01/11/2017 11:19:29 AM PST by Constitution Day (Never begin a vast project with half-vast ideas.)
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To: elcid1970

The Tunguska event was estimated to have been at least 15 megatons of TNT, or about 1,000 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A much larger impactor (about 30x) than this asteroid.


20 posted on 01/11/2017 11:27:37 AM PST by Godebert (CRUZ: Born in a foreign land to a foreign father.)
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