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 ...
My garden has already burned up. It’s difficult to walk to the car to go to the store. This is the hottest I’ve ever it seen it in Texas this early in the year. July and August is going to be rough.
VW bus?
School bus? (standard vs the short bus for the slow kids)
Trailways size bus?
The British, double decker type tour bus?
Indian bus, complete with 200 people hanging off the roof & sides?
Obama's bus?
God forbid the thing hits the Earth...the Muslims already worship one moon rock, imagine how they would treat this one!
Asteroid Will Smash Into Earth Today: Women and Minorities Hardest Hit
Not according to the article you posted.
"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.
Dang!
And it's just started..
Hang in there.
You'd never know it from the graphic:
I was merely to pointing out the sensationalism of: "an impact is possible when it makes the next pass" - not yet having the data.
Incorrect. Remember 2008 TC3? An amateur astronomer was even involved in observing it and establishing its orbit prior to impact. The communication between amateur and professional astronomers is very fast and open when it comes to asteroid discoveries, even potential impactors.
My goodness!!! Isn’t there someone to whom we can send money???
Asteroid 2011 MD [was discovered] on June 22. It has an orbit similar to Earth's.There's a bunch of these, and PANSTARRS is looking for them. NASA's program has been to locate and identify the big stuff (km and up) but stuff much smaller than a km can do a lot of damage. The Tunguska object was perhaps as much as 100 meters across (estimates range as high as at least 1200 m, as low as 50 m, and this is mostly due to different density estimates), and exploded in an airburst several hundred feet before it hit the ground, knocking down trees for miles.
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Every meteorite in the Solar System sez, “I’d hit it!”
Absolutely. Little Timmy tax cheat is going to need it to postpone hitting the debt limit. He's already "borrowed" from the federal employees Thrift Savings Plan.
Missed by 7500 miles (less than one Earth diameter)
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/0627/Asteroid-2011-MD-buzzes-Earth-nearer-than-some-satellites
just sayin'
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