Posted on 05/10/2017 7:53:58 AM PDT by BenLurkin
2017 HX4 passed us by at a very safe distance. In fact, the asteroid’s closest approach to Earth was estimated to be at a distance of 3.7 Lunar Distances (LD) – i.e. almost four times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. This, and other pertinent information was tweeted in advance by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center (IAU MPC) on April 29th.
This object was first spotted on April 26th, 2017, using the 1.8 meter Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), located at the summit of Haleakala in Hawaii. Since that time, it has been monitored by multiple telescopes around the world, and its tracking data and information about its orbit and other characteristics has been provided by the IAU MPC.
...
In the case of 2017 HX4, the object has been shown to have an orbital period of 2.37 years, following a path that takes it from beyond the orbit of Venus to well beyond the orbit of Mars. In other words, it orbits our Sun at an average distance (semi-major axis) of 1.776 AU, ranging from about 0.88 AU at perihelion to 2.669 AU at aphelion.
Since it was first spotted, the object has been viewed a total of 41 times between April 26th and May 4th.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
I didn’t notice the asteroid what with all the left wing
hemorrhoids feeding us the news about poor little Jimmy
Comey.
Haven’t checked bpearthwatch or terral03/terral blackstar to see if they’re making up fantasy about this asteroid yet.
I liked how Ison, Elenin, and YU55 killed us all.
(And how they insisted that YU55 was actually one of the previous comets..)
well, if it hadn’t, the headline would have been totally unnecessary. hell, the whole story would have been unnecessary.
From the article:
“So, as always, there was nothing to worry about here folks. These objects are always spotted before they cross Earth’s orbit, and their paths, periods and velocities and are known about in advance.
“Even so, it’s worth noting that an object of this size was nowhere near to be large enough to cause an Extinction Level Event.”
Darn. I was hoping to read that it hit Chappaqua.
I know.
Just recalling the hysteria in certain circles over it
“Newly Discovered House-Sized Asteroid 2017 HX4 Flew Safely Past the Earth Yesterday”
Thank goodness! The damage to the asteroid would have been extensive.
Nothing to worry about until one is spotted two weeks before it hits Earth.
However, as now know from 2013 over Russia, a house-sized meteor sometimes can survive entry into the Earth’s atmosphere at an initial entry speed of over 34,000 mph—more than twice the speed of an Earth-orbit spacecraft entering the Earth’s atmosphere on re-entry. As such, the result in s very powerful sonic boom shockwave that can cause concussion wave damage on the ground, and there is fear with a 20-foot diameter meteor either hitting the ground or exploding at low altitude with the force or a W80 nuclear warhead (around 150 to 200 KT explosive yield). That type of impact or atmospheric explosion could flatten cities.
Even an object this “small” can make some humans have a very bad day depending on how much burns through entry to Earth.
That's what, about a million miles away? Much ado about very little.
That's what, about a million miles away? Much ado about very little.
Somebody please cue up the scene from The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy’s house fell on the WIcked Witch of The West...
If you miss the train I’m on, you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a one million miles,
One million miles, one million miles, one million miles, one million miles,
You can hear the whistle blow one million miles.
Don’t forget, Ison and Elenin already killed us all!
So no worries!
Lol
Who’s house? I mean, are we talking something like my 600 square foot bungalow starter home or Al Gore’s 10,000+ square foot mansion?
Well-played, Ben. Well-played indeed.
Yeah, they say its harmless. Until it falls on your house. Who is laughing then?
And they say its not an Extinction Level Event kind of rock. No, but it would wreck our day if it hit anywhere in the northern hemisphere.
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