How to Watch a Near-Earth Asteroid Zoom Closer to Earth than the Moon

Live Science ^ | November 9, 2018 06:14pm ET | Laura Geggel

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[aft_lizard]

Anybody know if that’s close enough to be captured or is the speed of the Asteroid too great?

[Old Yeller]

Just don’t get any asteroids near Uranus.

[George from New England]

Your or My -nus ?

[adorno]

Just don’t get any asteroids near Uranus.

Speaking from experience?

[grey_whiskers]

"*ping*"

Oh, I think it'd make a louder noise than *that*.

[Deaf Smith]

The Bugs are ranging?

[MtnClimber]

Is there a possibility it could hit California or DC?

[Bullish]

How about Broward county Florida?

[Raycpa]

If we all push really hard against the ground can we get further away?

[MtnClimber]

If it blew out SE Florida, the world would be a better place.

[blueplum]

not so worrying about 239K miles away, but 3K between it and the moon? would it make a big crater?

[oldasrocks]

Better tell pokohontos not to send up any smoke signals.

[Steely Tom]

not so worrying about 239K miles away, but 3K between it and the moon? would it make a big crater?

3K between it and the moon's orbital path. The moon would have to be at a specific place on that path in order for the asteroid to come within 3K miles of it.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Three chunky asteroids will zoom by Earth this weekend,

Now we are fat shaming asteroids?

[alexander_busek]

Anybody know if that’s close enough to be captured or is the speed of the Asteroid too great?

That's not how Celestial Mechanics work!

Unless an object strikes the Earth (or is at least slowed down by the Earth's atmosphere = aerobraking), it will fly by it (assuming that the object, itself, doesn't have thrusters).

Regards,

[alexander_busek]

not so worrying about 239K miles away, but 3K between it and the moon? would it make a big crater?

That's not how Mathematics works!

If I live 1,000 miles away from Denver, Colorado and a friend of mine lives 1,001 miles away from Denver, Colorado - it does not necessarily follow that he and I live only 1 mile apart from each other, n'est-ce pas?

Regards,

[jmacusa]

That is just at the edge of being too close. If that thing deviates any further in it could be a problem.

[jmacusa]

If that thing deviates a little inward we could have a problem. Stuff hits our atmosphere all the time. Most of it is small and burns up. Some stuff impacts. And some things streak in and keep going on out. It’s a crapshoot. But something big will hit us at some point, of that you can be certain.