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Small asteroid about to burn up in sky over Africa (above Sudan at 10:46 p.m. EDT Monday)
AP on Yahoo ^ | 10/6/08 | AP

Posted on 10/06/2008 3:22:47 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

WASHINGTON – Astronomers say a small asteroid is about to make a fiery but harmless dive into Earth's atmosphere early Tuesday morning over Africa.

Harvard scientists announced late Monday afternoon that the unnamed asteroid will burn up in the sky, making a fireball that people in northern Africa should be able to see.

The rock is between 3 feet and 15 feet in diameter.

It's expected to enter Earth's atmosphere above Sudan at 10:46 p.m. EDT Monday, which is just before dawn in Africa.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2008tc3; 2009bd; africa; asteroid; asteroids; catastrophism; sudan
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1 posted on 10/06/2008 3:22:47 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

We need this to be diverted and helped along to hit congress


2 posted on 10/06/2008 3:24:46 PM PDT by ronnie raygun (THE NEW MILLIONAIRES CLUB : YOUR FRIENDLY NIEGHBORHOOD CONGRESSMEN)
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Should make for a nice display, hope it’s bigger and not too small.

I’ll post pics and links later or feel free to post what ya see.


3 posted on 10/06/2008 3:25:01 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... Donate to FR ... Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121)
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To: NormsRevenge

Ruh Roh!!

Oct 7th!!!


4 posted on 10/06/2008 3:25:10 PM PDT by djf (Sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I'm getting used to that now...)
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To: NormsRevenge

It’s going to start out as a very cold rock and then get hot real fast, so fast that rapid thermal expansion will cause it to fragment into smaller pieces.


5 posted on 10/06/2008 3:26:18 PM PDT by fso301
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To: ronnie raygun

sadly,, or fortunately for Congre$$, technology lags in guiding heavenly bodies.. but give us time.


6 posted on 10/06/2008 3:26:39 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... Donate to FR ... Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121)
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To: NormsRevenge
Maybe Khadafi's house will get hit........

again.

7 posted on 10/06/2008 3:26:53 PM PDT by apastron (I miss the good old days - when bankers just jumped out of a window...)
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To: NormsRevenge
Small asteroid about to burn up in sky over Africa....

....Women and minorities hardest hit.

8 posted on 10/06/2008 3:27:28 PM PDT by TexasNative2000 (Obviously, liberals can't handle a strong, independent woman.)
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To: fso301

I wish it was a bus sized chunk.. this thing may fizzle and fall apart quick ,, hope we get some good film of it.


9 posted on 10/06/2008 3:27:41 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... Donate to FR ... Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121)
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Spaceguard.
10 posted on 10/06/2008 3:29:53 PM PDT by CE2949BB (McCain/Palin 08)
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To: TexasNative2000
....Women and minorities hardest hit.

In Africa, the minorities would be, uhh.....white people.

11 posted on 10/06/2008 3:30:33 PM PDT by uglybiker (1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d 2 g3t l41d)
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Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/

CfA Press Release

Release No.: 2008-19

For Release: Monday, October 06, 2008

Boulder-sized Asteroid Will Burn Up in Earth’s Atmosphere Tonight

Cambridge, MA - A tiny asteroid discovered just hours ago at an Arizona observatory will enter Earth’s atmosphere harmlessly at approximately 10:46 p.m. Eastern time tonight (2:46 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time). There is no danger to people or property since the asteroid will not reach the ground. It is between 3 and 15 feet (1-5 m) in diameter and will burn up in the upper atmosphere, well above aircraft heights. A brilliant fireball will be visible as a result.
“We want to stress that this object is not a threat,” said Dr. Timothy Spahr, director of the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.

“We’re excited since this is the first time we have issued a prediction that an object will enter Earth’s atmosphere,” Spahr added. Odds are between 99.8 and 100 percent that the object will encounter Earth, according to calculations provided by Andrea Milani of the University of Pisa.

When a meteoroid (small asteroid) enters the atmosphere, it compresses the air in front of it. That compression heats the air, which in turn heats the object, causing it to glow and vaporize. Once it starts to glow, the object is called a meteor.

“A typical meteor comes from an object the size of a grain of sand,” explained Gareth Williams of the Minor Planet Center. “This meteor will be a real humdinger in comparison!”

The meteor is expected to be visible from eastern Africa as an extremely bright fireball traveling rapidly across the sky from northeast to southwest. The object is expected to enter the atmosphere over northern Sudan at a shallow angle.

“We’re eager for observations from astronomers near the asteroid’s approach path. We really hope that someone will manage to photograph it,” said Williams.

The Minor Planet Center, which is located at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, serves as the worldwide clearinghouse for asteroid and comet observations. It collects, checks and disseminates observations and calculates orbits.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists, organized into six research divisions, study the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.


12 posted on 10/06/2008 3:33:20 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... Donate to FR ... Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121)
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To: uglybiker

Isnt this how the “Night of the Living Dead” Started?
Load up on ammo and canned goods. Remember, kill the head and the rest is dead.
Good Luck


13 posted on 10/06/2008 3:33:57 PM PDT by Yorlik803 (Running isnt a plan:Running is what you do when a plan fails.)
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To: NormsRevenge

"And behold, a light appeared in the skies as a slashing blade of Change, and the Sheep arose with a great voice, crying, 'Who is like unto The One (piss be upon Him), who shall bring Change unto us?" And The One did grin, and the Sheep did feast upon the sloths and carp and anchovies..."

14 posted on 10/06/2008 3:38:13 PM PDT by Old Sarge (Illic Est Haud Deus)
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To: NormsRevenge
"a fiery but harmless dive into Earth's atmosphere"

We'll know later if they got the measurements correct.

"15 Meters? I thought you meant feet when I calculated that. You didn't tell me we were going metric this week." /sarc?

15 posted on 10/06/2008 3:39:06 PM PDT by Deaf Smith
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To: NormsRevenge
It is allah's will

Hopefully it will break up on entry or else we will have the making of another shrine.

16 posted on 10/06/2008 3:39:59 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: NormsRevenge
Small asteroid about to burn up in sky over Africa

Just as the Washington Post reputedly will report when the world ends: Minorities hardest hit.

17 posted on 10/06/2008 3:41:21 PM PDT by Plutarch
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To: NormsRevenge
I had a small asteroid once, but I used this and it cleared right up.


18 posted on 10/06/2008 3:44:34 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: NormsRevenge

Any chance it can be diverted to Mecca, Medina, or the al Aqsa mosque?


19 posted on 10/06/2008 3:44:38 PM PDT by gop4lyf (Obama wants to raise taxes and kill babies. Palin wants to raise babies and kill taxes.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Can you ping me when you have images?


20 posted on 10/06/2008 3:46:44 PM PDT by mnehring
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