Posted on 06/04/2019 6:01:30 PM PDT by ETL
A unique double asteroid was photographed by a powerful telescope as it whizzed by Earth last month at over 43,000 mph.
The asteroid, classified as 1999 KW4, is made up of two components a larger body orbited by a smaller one separated by about 1.6 miles.
It got as close as 3.2 million miles to Earth on May 25 about 14 times the distance from Earth to the Moon, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) said in a news release Monday.
The double asteroid, which has an orbit well known to scientists, is not an impact threat to Earth, ESO officials said.
Scientists with the ESO and the International Asteroid Warning Network worked together to predict the flyby and make appropriate preparations for observing the object.
The organization said it used its Very Large Telescope (VLT) to spot the passing asteroid.
The VLT was able to capture images sharp enough to distinguish the two parts of the asteroid thanks to its Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument.
SPHEREs main purpose is to observe exoplanets planets located outside our Solar System.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Experts are never wrong, especially if they wear white lab coats, I would neve challenge their conclusions. I nearly made my own conclusion about the veracity of the computer generated movie they presented as photographic proof of their assertions.
Experts are never wrong, especially if they wear white lab coats, I would never challenge their conclusions.
But you were so absolutely sure about it. It was as-if you had done the calculations yourself and proven them wrong.
You wrote: "There is no way that rock has enough gravitational attraction to hold that smaller rock in orbit."
...Anyway, if they had imaged the two asteroids over a period of time they could have simply observed the smaller one going around the larger one. ie, seen it in various different positions with respect to the larger in separate still shots.
That is still my belief. I am not saying the rock isn't orbiting the big rock, just that Gravity alone does not adequately explain it.
Let’s face the facts. There is a lot of stuff flying around in Space. Good thing that there is a LOT OF SPACE, or there would be a lot of bumping and smacking and grinding out there.
WHEW!
The problem is that its moving too fast, too close to the camera. Something like Pluto, while moving fast as well, appears slower at this distance.
For example, it is much easier to photograph a motorcycle race at a distance—you are able to track the motion and keep the frame in focus.
On the other hand, if an item is crossing your plain of view and you are trying to track it with a huge telephoto lens, you are going to have a bear of a time shooting in focus and panning at the proper speed.
(I was a professional sports photographer for 14 years. I dealt with this stuff every day.)
That is still my belief. I am not saying the rock isn't orbiting the big rock, just that Gravity alone does not adequately explain it.
What other force or mechanism could there possibly be to even assist in the smaller being held in orbit around the larger, static electricity, magnetism...?
43,000 mph? Thats darn good gas mileage.
Gravity works at all scales. Absent significant external forces, that small rock will orbit the large rock forever. If they get very close to a massive object at the right time, there could be enough differential attraction to perturb the small rock's orbit. If that occurred frequently and in sync with the orbital period, the small rock could eventually be stripped away.
No one knows mostly because no one looks for anything else, but Gravity is a very weak force when you consider the inverse square rule. There are more than a few Freepers that seem to lean toward an "Electronic Universe." I have no dog in either fight and really don't much care but a lot of consensus science defies common sense. The moon sucks the Oceans up toward it but ignores clouds full of water, ok then.
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