Posted on 03/01/2022 7:44:41 AM PST by BenLurkin
For a few tense days in January of this year, astronomers were tracking a Near-Earth Object cruising towards Earth with its trajectory showing it hitting the planet in 2023, when it mysteriously changed course. The asteroid dubbed 2022 AE1 was on course to hit Earth on July 4, 2023, with astronomers predicting real damage to a local area.
The asteroid was moving so fast that there was not enough time to attempt deflection and the European Space Agency (ESA) said that, worryingly, the chance of impact appeared to increase based on the first seven days of observations. The first observations were followed by a dramatic week 'in the dark' as the full Moon outshone the potential impactor.
When the Moon moved away, the telescope looked again, only to find the chance of impact was dramatically falling. Since then, it has been confirmed that 2022 AE1 will not impact Earth and has been removed from ESA's risk list.
Astronomers said that several asteroids often appear risky during initial observations, get riskier, and then suddenly become entirely safe. "As is often the case, the overlap with Earth remains even while the risk corridor gets smaller due to further observations and so the risk appears to increase. More often than not, as the hazard zone narrows, the small potential corridor moves off Earth and the risk suddenly drops," ESA said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
smart asteroid...
They are Sentient these days.
Collision Avoidance System working.
18 months away and it was moving too fast to deflect? That’s not encouraging.
Doesn’t it bother you ... when the scientists are wrong in their predictions? .... but they still say ... “Trust us. And trust the science.”?
Maybe they mean, “Bend over so we can thrust our science”.
God will have his vengeance when he’s ready....ain’t no asteroid gonna ruin that.
We have absolutely no tech to deflect an asteroid.
Perfect.
The asteroid saw that we were about to blow our own selves up, and decided to just move on.
To bad. We need some instant relief.
Maybe it has something to do with the news cycle.
Day 1: OMG PANIC
Day 2: OMG OMG OMG OMG THE HUGE MANATEE
Day 3: WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE
Day 4: Eh, it’s not so bad.
Did someone say “Klaatu barada nikto” ?
Statistical enveloping development as the orbit determination solution gets better....the 3sigma tube shrinks and walks off the Earth
The asteroid probably realized that fireworks are not allowed in most areas on the the Fourth.
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