Posted on 06/27/2011 10:08:33 AM PDT by blam
NASA: An Asteroid Will Barely Avoid Slamming Into Earth Today
David Edwards, The Raw Story
Jun. 27, 2011, 11:47 AM
Image: Flickr Ed Sweeny
Astronomers have just discovered an asteroid that is expected come close enough to Earth Monday that it will be visible with amateur telescopes.
The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research centre (LINEAR) spotted Asteroid 2011 MD on June 22. It has an orbit similar to Earth's.
The asteroid will be visible from parts of South Africa and Antarctica when it makes its closest approach at 1:14 p.m. EDT (1714 GMT), passing just 7,500 miles (12,000 kilometers) from the Earth's surface. The rock will be so close that its trajectory will be sharply altered by the Earth's gravity.
"There is no chance that 2011 MD will hit Earth but scientists will use the close pass as opportunity to study it w/ radar observations," NASA's @AsteroidWatch tweeted last week.
Scientists say there is no danger of the bus-sized object striking Earth this time, but an impact is possible when it makes the next pass in 2022.
"Asteroid 2011 MD measures about 10 meters. Stony asteroids less than 25 m would break up in Earth's atmosphere & not cause ground damage," NASA wrote on their Twitter page.
The record for near-miss asteroids was set in February when 2011 CQ1 came with 3,400 miles (5,471 kilometers) of the planet.
Image: NASA
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Zoinks!...
15 minutes to perigee.
so keep the IRA going for now?
Sometimes it’s this.
Sometimes it’s that.
Most times you can’t do a damn thing about it.
15 minutes to live.
See ya.
What does this have to do with Global Warming?
Another rocky Monday it is.
” NASA: An Asteroid Will Barely Avoid Slamming Into Earth Today “
Hmmmmm - this ‘prediction’ comes to us courtesy of the outfit that ‘predicts’ Global Warming...
Might be wanting to keep your umbrella handy, just in case...
I hope that their calculations are better than they are for temperature data. That is, I hope they didn’t just throw out the observations that involve it hitting Earth because it did not meet their criteria.
2011 MD is about 10 meters in its longest dimension. It’s been described as being roughly the size of a bus.
The website I checked (sorry, don’t have a link, but you can Google “2011 MD” and get all this) said that meteors of that size will break up in the atmosphere if they enter it.
just to be on the safe side, I’ll wait another 12 minutes topay my cable bill...
tick, tick, tick...13 to go.
Bus-sized object. Wouldn’t it burn up on entry? Maybe, maybe not. . . .
In other news that will not happen: Having no entries on his otherwise busy travel calendar, President Obama will barely avoid working in the Oval Office again today, as he jaunts off to another fund-raiser on his way back from a round of golf. “Whew”, the President was quoted as remarking. “That was a close one!” “Now do you think I oughta go with the wood or just lay up and chip for the green?”
It’s Bush and Cheney’s fault!!!
Another brilliant thought from the CAIR and Muslim Support Center, formerly known as NASA.
Ozero is probably waiting for it to slow down and change course so he can begin a dialogue with an alien ship. The good news, after hearing his words, they will depart saying “no significant life forms present on this planet” Here is a transcript of his welcome:
Hello out there, this is president Obama, ruler of the US and the entire planet. Welcome. Now, let me be clear, if you land here, do not expect low income tax rates and since you seem technically advanced, plan on my IRS removing any monitary gains you make selling your technology as part of my social justice program.
Cripes, in space terms, that's one in the X-ring!
That’s it. I’m off the diet until tomorrow - if it comes.
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