Posted on 03/20/2020 7:12:58 PM PDT by bitt
KEY POINTS NASA detected four asteroids approaching Earth The biggest asteroid in the group measures 180 feet wide All four asteroids will approach Earth this weekend
NASAs automated asteroid tracking system has detected four near-Earth objects that are expected to approach the planet this weekend. According to the agency, the biggest asteroid in the group is about as big as the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.
The first asteroid that will approach Earth this weekend has been identified by NASAs Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) as 2020 FK. As indicated in CNEOS database, this asteroid has an estimated diameter of about 43 feet, which makes it the smallest in the group.
CNEOS noted that this asteroid is currently traveling across space at a speed of over 23,000 miles per hour.
Trailing behind 2020 FK is an asteroid known as 2020 FS. This space rock is currently flying towards Earth at a speed of about 9,600 miles per hour. CNEOS estimated that this asteroid measures around 56 feet wide.
Both 2020 FK and 2020 FS will visit Earths vicinity on Saturday. 2020 FK is expected to approach the planet on March 21 at 12:05 a.m. EDT from a distance of about 0.00909 astronomical units or around 845,000 miles away.
2020 FS, on the other hand, will zip past the planet on March 21 at 11:29 a.m. EDT. During its approach, the asteroid will be about 0.02096 astronomical units from the Earths center, which is equivalent to around 1.9 million miles.
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On Sunday, Earth will be visited by two asteroids. The first one is called 2020 DP4, which is the biggest asteroid in the group. According to CNEOS, this space rock has an estimated diameter of 180..
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Chicken Little - "We're all going to die!
Dont worry.
Theyre only dangerous in groups of 10 or more.
Corona, four asteroids, aaannnd...a massive solar flare that’ll knock out the grid. How ‘bout that?
thank God we have a cooler distraction from C-19!
at least we can SEE explosions!
Indeed.
Now there is a headline you just have to click on.
I am ready, I have my baseball mitt.
I will be the first man to ever catch an asteroid.
It’s great to see some good news.
“I wouldnt expect it to be announced.”
Quite true if history is any guide. Comet Lee in 1999 was a spent, iron comet which passed very close in front of earth’s path. There was a Western news blackout on it soon after discovery. A simulator was online that showed the near-intersection. A few days later the simulator no longer had comet Lee. I’d bookmarked it and got a Page Not Found. There was one site that put up detailed research on it and remained up. It just said it would pass in front of the earth and soon afterward the earth would pass thru its tail. There was some speculation being a dark comet and mostly iron any large debris in the tail could pose a significant risk.
The earth passed thru its tail just a few days after it passed. I went out near sunrise and looked east. It was a clear day. I saw many road flare-red streaks coming almost straight down. All at apparently the same angle. I’ve never seen anything travel that fast that far down in the atmosphere. Much faster than a meteorite. Like from the top of the sky to ground level in a fraction of a second. It’s definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I watched the news that day and there was only a story about ppl in Thailand watching the sky during a ‘celestial event’.
SMOD!
Isn’t Preparation H good for asteroids?
Only near Uranus
(somebody had to say it)
Hmmm, were these a predictable kind of thing like comets?
A meteorite the size of you fist hit the trailer and was laying on the deck.
He keeps it in his toolbox.
There’s a cartoon going around with two dinosaurs watching a comet coming in and one of them says “Quick! Buy toilet paper!”
This is what we have become.
ROTFLOL
Ahemroids not assteriods.
Yeah, wow!
My wife seens to think I am responsible for all this.
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