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Three-mile-wide Asteroid 3200 Phaethon to skim Earth just before Christmas Read more:
metrouk ^

Posted on 11/24/2017 6:01:48 AM PST by BenLurkin

A gigantic space rock called 3200 Phaethon is due to brush ‘quite close’ to our planet on December 17, Russian astronomers have revealed.

This huge asteroid is thought to cause the beautiful Geminids meteor shower which will take place between December 13 and 14, causing hundreds of bright meteors to illuminate the night sky as they burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. But NASA has also described it as a ‘potentially hazardous asteroid whose path misses Earth’s orbit by only 2 million miles‘ – which is tiny in galactic terms.

It’s about half the size of Chicxulub, the rock which wiped out the dinosaurs, and has a very unusual orbit which causes it to pass closer to the sun than any other named asteroid.

(Excerpt) Read more at metro.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Astronomy
KEYWORDS: 3200phaethon; arecibo; asteroid; astronomy; catastrophism; geminids; phaethon
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1 posted on 11/24/2017 6:01:48 AM PST by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

Whew!


2 posted on 11/24/2017 6:12:13 AM PST by The_Media_never_lie
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To: BenLurkin

Phaethon approached to 0.120895 AU (18,085,600 km; 11,237,900 mi) of Earth on December 10, 2007.[1] On December 16, 2017, it will pass 0.06893 AU (10,312,000 km; 6,407,000 mi) from Earth. Then, on December 14, 2093, it will pass 0.0198 AU (2,960,000 km; 1,840,000 mi) from Earth.[1][11]

—Wikipedia


3 posted on 11/24/2017 6:19:39 AM PST by samtheman (Liberalism is a mental disease.)
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To: BenLurkin

4 posted on 11/24/2017 6:20:15 AM PST by outofsalt ( If history teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything)
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To: BenLurkin

That’s hurt if it it.


5 posted on 11/24/2017 6:28:09 AM PST by ealgeone
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To: ealgeone

Indeed.


6 posted on 11/24/2017 6:31:27 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: samtheman

They use AU because using LD would make the story a lot less sensational.

It’s like 15 LD so it’s not even CLOSE.


7 posted on 11/24/2017 6:34:24 AM PST by Celerity
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To: ealgeone

This thing has a weird orbit. From the outer reaches of the system to inside the orbit of Mercury.


8 posted on 11/24/2017 6:36:53 AM 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

Seems like it’s honing in on a collision with Earth over time. Wonder if there are any realistic factors in nature that could nudge it one way or the other.


9 posted on 11/24/2017 6:40:17 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: BenLurkin

https://www.amazon.com/Lucifers-Hammer-Larry-Niven-ebook/dp/B004478DOU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511534517&sr=1-1&keywords=lucifers+hammer

Lucifer’s Hammer
by Larry Niven Jerry Pournelle

“a massive comet breaks apart and bombards the Earth, with catastrophic results: worldwide earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, thousand-foot tidal waves and seemingly endless rain… With civilization in ruins, individuals band together to survive and to build a new society. “A MEGATON OF SUSPENSEFUL EXCITEMENT ... which should keep readers going non-stop, cover to cover” - Booklist.


10 posted on 11/24/2017 6:43:42 AM PST by dynachrome (When an empire dies, you are left with vast monuments in front of which peasants squat to defecate)
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To: BenLurkin

Besides getting to look at the Geminids, I am hoping to catch a glimpse of the asteroid as is passes.


11 posted on 11/24/2017 6:44:57 AM PST by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: BenLurkin

It’s Niribu!


12 posted on 11/24/2017 6:49:34 AM PST by ealgeone
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To: BenLurkin

Skim? So, it’s going to take the top layer of Earth off?


13 posted on 11/24/2017 6:58:27 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: RegulatorCountry
Wonder if there are any realistic factors in nature that could nudge it one way or the other.

Sure there are: a near-miss with any of the planets, asteroids or comets. But, especially Saturn and Jupiter, where the misses don't have to be especially near in order to nudge the orbit significantly.

Note, too, that although the orbits of the major planets and many asteroids are well-known (and, therefore, predictable well into the future), there remain as-yet undiscovered asteroids, plutoids and comets, and a near-miss with one of those could go both unpredicted and unnoticed.

14 posted on 11/24/2017 7:06:21 AM PST by coloradan (The US has become a banana republic, except without the bananas - or the republic.)
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To: Celerity

Also, the posted article says “within 2 million miles of Earth’s orbit” when really, this December, it’s only coming within 6 million miles of Earth.

There’s a big difference between coming close to Earth’s orbit and coming close to Earth.

For me the takeaway is that if NASA classifies this object as a “potential hazard” it means there aren’t very many hazards out there, at least not that we now know about.


15 posted on 11/24/2017 7:08:38 AM PST by samtheman (Liberalism is a mental disease.)
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To: BenLurkin

“It’s about half the size of Chicxulub, the rock which wiped out the dinosaurs,..”

Seriously?? Just spit this out as fact? And even to give it a name?

Come on...


16 posted on 11/24/2017 7:16:33 AM PST by joethedrummer
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To: BenLurkin

YAWN


17 posted on 11/24/2017 7:40:16 AM PST by butlerweave
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To: BenLurkin

I wouldn’t call that close considering the Earth’s diameter is 8000 miles.


18 posted on 11/24/2017 7:46:06 AM PST by Crucial
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To: joethedrummer

Well, that’s what the dinosaurs called it.


19 posted on 11/24/2017 8:21:12 AM PST by Romulus
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To: BenLurkin

Big rocks passing close to Earth are nature’s way of asking, “Hey, how’s your space program doing?”


20 posted on 11/24/2017 8:21:14 AM PST by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt)
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