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Asteroid passed unusually close to Earth last week
thespacereporter.com ^ | March 5, 2017 | Laurel Kornfeld

Posted on 03/05/2017 8:03:05 PM PST by BenLurkin

Less than 10 feet across, asteroid 2017 EA made its closest approach at 9:04 AM EST (14:04 Universal Time) last Thursday, coming 20 times closer than the Moon, just 9,000 miles (14,500 km) over the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to a NASA statement.

The space agency’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), which operates out of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, tracks asteroids and comets that come close to the Earth and computes very precise orbits for them but did not detect this asteroid until just six hours before its closest approach to Earth.

It was first sighted by astronomers working at the Catalina Sky Survey, which is funded by NASA. Several other observatories around the world observed it between the time of its discovery and that of its closest approach.

...

This was actually the second close asteroid flyby of 2017. A meteor the size of the one that exploded above Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013 passed halfway as close as the Moon in January, NASA reported.

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


TOPICS: Astronomy
KEYWORDS: 2017ea; asteroid
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1 posted on 03/05/2017 8:03:05 PM PST by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

If it hits do we all die? Allah waiting.


2 posted on 03/05/2017 8:07:53 PM PST by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Too small.


3 posted on 03/05/2017 8:09:19 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both)
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To: BenLurkin

AMP - Phase 1 (Cyborg Invasion) (A.M.P) Kindle Edition [$0.00]
https://www.amazon.com/AMP-Phase-Cyborg-Invasion-M-P-ebook/dp/B00LBGF9VW?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0


4 posted on 03/05/2017 8:15:11 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper (Happy Nobama!)
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To: BenLurkin

too bad it didn’t hit the entire Congress


5 posted on 03/05/2017 8:16:15 PM PST by brucedickinson
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To: BenLurkin
I think the major fear is that we could have a small meteor made of denser material entering the atmosphere at over 35,000 mph and then exploding over a major populated area with the force of a 150 to 300 KT nuclear device. The damage and casualties from such an explosion could be enormous, to say the least.
6 posted on 03/05/2017 8:16:53 PM PST by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: BenLurkin

Rocks from God.


7 posted on 03/05/2017 8:25:01 PM PST by Paladin2 (No spellcheck. It's too much work to undo the auto wrong word substitution on mobile devices.)
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To: BenLurkin

Maybe. But major destruction possible. Not a real confidence building alerting system. But since we have no countermeasure it likely does not matter.

Yikes.


8 posted on 03/05/2017 8:25:30 PM PST by whistleduck ("....the calm confidence of a Christian with 4 aces".....S.)
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To: RayChuang88

Yuge...


9 posted on 03/05/2017 8:25:52 PM PST by Paladin2 (No spellcheck. It's too much work to undo the auto wrong word substitution on mobile devices.)
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To: whistleduck

This is why I file taxes in October....


10 posted on 03/05/2017 8:26:43 PM PST by Paladin2 (No spellcheck. It's too much work to undo the auto wrong word substitution on mobile devices.)
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To: BenLurkin

On the low end of the weapon scale for asteroids. The Chelyabinsk meteoroid with a shallow trajectory disintegrated quite high and produced only a relatively mild shock over-pressure at the ground. Would a steep decent produce different results?


11 posted on 03/05/2017 8:27:51 PM PST by Ozark Tom
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To: Paladin2

Waiting for Wormwood...


12 posted on 03/05/2017 8:30:10 PM PST by Ingtar (.)
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To: BenLurkin

10 feets asteroid is nothing, will completely burn out long before hit the ground


13 posted on 03/05/2017 8:38:56 PM PST by Rebel2016
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To: Rebel2016

350,000 kph vs. 100,000 ft of atmosphere doesn’t seem to compute into a long time vs human time scale perceptions.


14 posted on 03/05/2017 8:43:18 PM PST by Paladin2 (No spellcheck. It's too much work to undo the auto wrong word substitution on mobile devices.)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Way too small.


15 posted on 03/05/2017 8:48:27 PM PST by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: BenLurkin

NASA space data supports citizens’ observations: Meteor fireballs are increasing dramatically
https://www.sott.net/article/309988-NASA-space-data-supports-citizens-observations-Meteor-fireballs-are-increasing-dramatically

The number of reported fireballs from 2005 to 2015 has jumped from 922 to over 9,200+.


16 posted on 03/05/2017 8:57:30 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Paladin2

It’s why I don’t file until midnight on the 15th.


17 posted on 03/05/2017 9:00:46 PM PST by FredZarguna (And what Rough Beast, its hour come 'round at last, slouches toward Fifth Avenue to be born?)
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To: BenLurkin

If it splits in two during entry into our atmosphere, perhaps cosmic forces could have it hit a certain house in Chappaqua and a particular rental home in D.C. That would solve a couple of problems.


18 posted on 03/05/2017 9:08:20 PM PST by doug from upland (Hey, traitor Democrats. I have a tree. I'm sure another FReeper has a rope.)
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To: BenLurkin

Was it an asteroid or meteor which hit Siberia in 1908, flattening a huge area? Which fortunately was virtually uninhabited . The same over New York or LA and millions would be killed.


19 posted on 03/05/2017 9:57:53 PM PST by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Paladin2

You underestimate the density and resistance of the atmosphere. The friction raises the temperature to millions of degrees, causing the asteroid explode first, then the remnants would quickly burn out.


20 posted on 03/05/2017 10:59:12 PM PST by Rebel2016
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