Posted on 02/14/2017 11:26:54 AM PST by BenLurkin
o radar imager Lance Benner at JPL in Pasadena, asteroid 2017 BQ6 resembles the polygonal dice used in Dungeons and Dragons. But my eyes see something closer to a stepping stone or paver you’d use to build a walkway. However you picture it, this asteroid is more angular than most imaged by radar.
It flew harmlessly by Earth on Feb. 7 at 1:36 a.m. EST (6:36 UT) at about 6.6 times the distance between Earth and the moon or some about 1.6 million miles. Based on 2017 BQ6’s brightness, astronomers estimate the hurtling boulder about 660 feet (200 meters) across. The recent flyby made for a perfect opportunity to bounce radio waves off the object, harvest their echoes and build an image of giant space boulder no one had ever seen close up before.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
Why yes, it looks exactly like a brick to me.
Note To Self: don’t invite Bob to the bricklaying party for the firepit.
“Bob, your side seems to keep falling over. Maybe you should try using some of these bricks instead of the ones you made.”
“And if you don’t eat your meat you can’t have any pudding!”
Meteor Crater in the Arizona desert was created by an asteroid estimated to be 50 meters diameter. I'd hate to see the size of the crater created by Asteroid BQ6 which is 200 meters diameter - over 4x larger.
4X longest dimension. 64X mass.
Actually it has 4 x 4 x 4 = 64 times the volume and probably 64 times the mass.
So I guess that would be 64x the explosive energy and thus 64x Meteor Crater’s diameter (1 mile) - about 64 miles across. Pretty impressive for a grain of sand hitting a grapefruit in relative sizes.
Composition of the asteroid has a fair amount to do with the level of damage created, above and beyond size alone.
Yes. The meteor crater object was mostly nickle-iron.
It makes a large difference.
A few years ago? Try 108.5 years ago. Tunguska, Siberia. Studies have yielded different estimates of the meteoroid's size, on the order of 200 to 620 feet.
“I’d hate to see the size of the crater created by Asteroid BQ6 which is 200 meters diameter - over 4x larger”
But it would be smaller at impact to some degree ad it would burn up coming through the atmosphere.
[snip] The next close approach of asteroid 2017 BQ6 to our planet will happen on March 02, 2036. On that day, its distance to Earth will be 16.33 million kilometers. [/snip]
https://the-sky.org/neo/3767007
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