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 ...
We need this to be diverted and helped along to hit congress
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.
Ruh Roh!!
Oct 7th!!!
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.
sadly,, or fortunately for Congre$$, technology lags in guiding heavenly bodies.. but give us time.
....Women and minorities hardest hit.
I wish it was a bus sized chunk.. this thing may fizzle and fall apart quick ,, hope we get some good film of it.
In Africa, the minorities would be, uhh.....white people.
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.
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
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?
Hopefully it will break up on entry or else we will have the making of another shrine.
Just as the Washington Post reputedly will report when the world ends: Minorities hardest hit.
Any chance it can be diverted to Mecca, Medina, or the al Aqsa mosque?
Can you ping me when you have images?
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