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Small Asteroid On Collision Course With Earth
musatov writes "There's talk on The Minor Planet Mailing List about a small asteroid approaching Earth with a 99.8% probability of colliding. The entrance to the Earth's atmosphere will take place October 7 at 0246 UTC (2:35 after this story goes live) over northern Sudan, releasing the energy of about a kiloton of TNT. The asteroid is assumed to be 3-4 meters in size; it is expected to burn up completely in the atmosphere, causing no harm. As a powerful bolide, it may put on quite a show in the sky. For those advanced enough in astronomy to observe, check the MPEC 2008-T50 and MPEC 2008-T64 circulars. NASA's JPL Small Body Database has a 3D orbit view. The story has been already picked up by CNN and NASA."
I thought bodies this small were usually referred to as meteors. What's the difference?
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
(assuming the summary is correct and it will likely burn up)
Small asteroids that burn up in the upper atmosphere are far from uncommon. Why is this suddenly notable?
I just got this deep sick feeling in my chest when I was readying that headline. It wasn't until " it is expected to burn up completely in the atmosphere, causing no harm." that I took a deep breath.
Sorry I know that's somewhat off topic, but....
The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
Let the jokes about the end of the world begin...
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
They become meteors *once* they start to interact with the Earth's atmosphere. Until that time, they are classified as space objects, and the names seem to change dependent upon size and approximate mass.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
It's an asteroid until it enters the atmosphere.
How we know is more important than what we know.
OK, fair point. I should have referenced meteoroids. But still, aside from a sensational headline, wouldn't this usually be classified as a meteoroid rather than an asteroid?
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
I still have to go to work tomorrow? :(
maybe the superstitious nutjobs in northern sudan take it as a godly sign that they should stop genociding southern sudan
the acehnese independence drive in indonesia pretty much died off after the 2004 tsumani
we talk about comets and eclipses having an impact in geopolitics in ancient history
well, it still goes on today
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Bankers everywhere rejoice!
I take it I won't be able to see anything here in Michigan, USA?
Meteoroid/meteor: Any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies that hits the earth's atmosphere
Meteorite: A solid body that has arrived on the Earth or Moon from outer space. It can range in size from microscopic to many tons. Its composition ranges from that of silicate rocks to metallic iron-nickel.
Asteroids: Asteroids, also called minor planets or planetoids, are a class of astronomical objects. The term asteroid is generally used to indicate a diverse group of small celestial bodies.
It's an asteroid while it's out floating in space. When it comes knocking on our atmosphere then it becomes a meteor. If it doesn't totally burn up on it's way down and hits the earth, it's a meteorite.
Don't even get me started on Kupier Belt Objects, Meteoroids or Comets!
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
At the moment, it could be considered (in everyday language) a very small asteroid in orbit around the Sun, although by the formal division that has been proposed (see the "bolide" link in the summary), it would be considered a meteoroid because it is so small (10m diameter). In a short while, it will briefly be a meteor in the Earth's atmosphere, although it will likely be bright enough to be considered a fireball. If we're lucky, there might be some meteorites that result, and which can be picked up on the ground.
Does that help? If not, refer to the link in the summary.
... or you'll go blind and the next thing you know, you'll being devoured by a giant plant.
Instead, watch it through a pinhole cut into some cardboard.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, watch it -- I'm huge!
You're right. The Royal Astronomical Society has proposed a new definition where a meteoroid is between 100 Âm and 10 m across.
My prediction is that because it's over an impoverished third-world country, no one will care much, aside from astronomers and a small number (relative to world population) of other smarter people who know perfectly well that it could have just as easily been over Los Angeles or New York City. Not that this particular incident is important as anything but yet another warning that space objects of unpredictable size can suddenly strike Earth, as has happened frequently in geological time for billions of years.
A truly excellent pizza parlor is a delight unto the heavens. Treasure the sauce and the toppings!
and it wants revenge.
This is obviously the first wave of Xenu's attack on the Thetans.
pluto is a what now?
he who controls the spice controls the universe
Small Asteroid Predicted to Cause Brilliant Fireball over Northern Sudan
A very small, few-meter sized asteroid, designated 2008 TC3, was found Monday morning by the Catalina Sky Survey from their observatory near Tucson Arizona. Preliminary orbital computations by the Minor Planet Center suggested an atmospheric entry of this object within a day of discovery. JPL confirmed that an atmospheric impact will very likely occur during early morning twilight over northern Sudan, north-eastern Africa, at 2:46 UT Tuesday morning. The fireball, which could be brilliant, will travel west to east (from azimuth = 281 degrees) at a relative atmospheric impact velocity of 12.8 km/s and arrive at a very low angle (19 degrees) to the local horizon. It is very unlikely that any sizable fragments will survive passage through the Earth's atmosphere.
Objects of this size would be expected to enter the Earth's atmosphere every few months on average but this is the first time such an event has been predicted ahead of time.
Since it is such a small asteroid we can save some money. We don't need to send an all-star cast to blow it up, we only need to send one celebrity.
I suggest Bruce Willis, since we can save even more money not having to worry about the return trip.
"Kittens give Morbo gas!"
what's wrong with comets? aren't they just chunks of dirty ice? they aren't classified differently depending on whether they're in space, in the atmosphere, or on the ground. there's nothing confusing about comets, and it's a useful definition IMO.
This is scary to me, not so much that a small asteroid is going to burn up and make a light show, but news of it comes out 24 hours before hand.
Would a body 10,20,100 or 1000 times the size be detected 24 hours before hitting us? Hell... 72 Hours?
Liar. You're intentionally misleading people. Troll is left even if you have tried to offset an off topic with a one sentence comment.
Wouldn't this be an ideal opportunity to test out the theory of using a satellite's gravity to tow an asteroid away? Well, it's too late now, but I'm sure the research would be useful if we ever wanted to have a greater chance of avoiding potential disasters.
a dog
The little one is followed by a great big one. Panic!
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Because the LHC failed at destroying us all, they sent this asteroid/meteor to finish us off. Seems like this will fail too.
signature is pants
It's an asteroid until it enters the atmosphere.
No, if it's less than 10 meters diameter it's only a meteoroid.
-- Alastair
I love it when scientists try to correct people with the difference between meteorites and asteroids. Just let the unwashed masses say it wrong :)
Objects of this size would be expected to enter the Earth's atmosphere every few months on average but this is the first time such an event has been predicted ahead of time.
Tech Support: "No, sir...clicking on 'Remember Password' will NOT help you remember your password."
I'm sure the US has been waiting for a chance to bomb Sudan. Now they don't have to do anything!!!
Since we're tagging stories with "story" why not tag this post with "post" or this article (which I did not read) with "article" or this opinion with "opinion" or this journal with "journal" or this line of bullshit with "bullshit".
Without the sensational headline, who would care?
they aren't classified differently depending on whether they're in space, in the atmosphere, or on the ground.
That's cuz comets generally don't reach the ground.
It's not going to collide so fix the title. It's going to burn up in our atmosphere becoming a meteor. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/10/06/asteroid.fireball/index.html Let's try to publish stuff accurately...
Reports indicate Darth Vader has already moved out of his bunker 1 mile under the Vice Presidential mansion and taken up a position in the orbit, in case it is not an asteroid at all but a squadron of rebel X wings.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
a small asteroid approaching Earth with a 99.8% probability of colliding
O-M-G We're all going to die! It's the end of the world! Run! Agh, forget that, you'll just die tired! I'm freaking out! I'm freaking out!
The asteroid is assumed to be 3-4 meters in size...
This has been a test of the emergency end of the world system. Has this been the actual end of the world you would have been given explicit instructions to bend over and kiss your ass good bye.
This concludes this test of the emergency end of the world system.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
If a comet is on the ground, we call it a glacier.
Right, but it's not a meteoroid until it enters the atmosphere . Until then, as the GP stated, it is still an asteroid.
Aikon-
You'd think any asteroid heading for our planet would garner at least a passing mention in the media, but no.
And in the meantime, the LHC gets all the attention. What a world.
If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
So then, would a big asteroid just be an aster? Or .... never mind.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Great, but WTF is Goofy, then?
Wrong, it's a meteoroid in space, a meteor in the atmosphere, and if any of it makes it to the ground, it's a meteorite.
It's never an asteroid because it's not big enough.
"The asteroid is assumed to be 3-4 meters in size; it is expected to burn up completely in the atmosphere, causing no harm."
"expected to burn up completely in the atmosphere, causing no harm."
"causing no harm."
Aw...
Everyone is focusing on the asteroid. I wonder (and wander) on a slightly different tangent. The regime in Sudan has been continuing for a long time their human rights atrocities in Darfur, etc. Perhaps this is God's way of firing a warning shot. ;)
...in the cavernous depths of space, yet we can't find Bin Laden on out own small planet?
http://www.theweek.com/article/index/89514/3/3/Cretaceous_economic_expert
Then once they've fully entered the atmosphere astronomers refer to them as "Cosmic World Destroyers." It's all very scientific.
Fire something of the same size off earth. All those bits'n'pieces will just make earth heavier and sink into the Sun!
Or think of it this way americans: Every time a meteor hits earth you become heavier.
If you quote this signature there'll be 72 copies of Windows ME waiting for you in Heaven.
Enjoy your visit from the Secret Service. Let us know how it went. :)
Yeah! fuck them and their selfish drive for independence from a government that's brutally repressed them for years so it can exploit the oil and gas reserves in the province.
failed the first time so he's trying yet again. Don't worry, SG-1 will save the world[tm] again as they always do.
Well, call me a Washin'ton out-cider, don'cha know, betcha', shucks, all I gotta' do is wink and sure, by golly, that asteroid'll collide with Obama fer sure. 'Cause he's a terrist celebrity, by golly, gosh, so dangerous, and I'd like ta' ignore that question and talk 'bout energy.
Sincerely;
Sarah Palin
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
For those advanced enough in astronomy to observe, check the MPEC 2008-T50 and MPEC 2008-T64 circulars.
Never read a more polite way of phrasing "otherwise, you're an astronomy idiot".
Thank god, we're finally going to attack Sudan...oh I mean...a meteor!
I'll call it a shooting star thanks
I stand corrected; had my oids, eors, and ites crossed.
"Out floating in space."? Is 40,000-65,000 mph called "out floating" in your book?
"A very small, few-meter sized asteroid, designated 2008 TC3..." "It is very unlikely that any sizable fragments will survive passage through the Earth's atmosphere..." Let's pretend that "few-meter-sized" means 3m in diameter, that the space rock is perfectly spherical and will hit the Earth's surface in one piece. Mass of asteroid = density*volume = (3000kg/m^3)*(4*pi*(1.5m)^2/3) = 28274.334 kg (Density data from an eyeball-average of table in http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/asteroid_masses) If it hits the surface at 12800m/s, then: Kinetic energy = .5*mv^2 = 2316233431638.683 J ~ 2316 gigajoules
1 ton TNT = 4.184GJ (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joule), so the meteorite impact is roughly 553.6 tons of TNT.
Caveat emptor: many, many approximations.
Happy feast of the pig!
Is one hour from now.
Any slashdotters in Sudan ?
Oh gawd... chopper sick balls on this guy...
A horrible violation of the laws of God and Man...
By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
Since there is great uncertainty in the mass of this object (albedo ? density ? who knows!) is anyone interested in a pool for the crater size ? I say that there will be one and my bet is for 3 meters.
Asteroid is free, Meteor is expensive - costs anywhere from 50 to 99 MP to cast, depending on which FF you're playing.
I'd use an Asteroid over Meteor any day.
I would assume that it is being called an 'asteroid' because it was discovered, path projected, and designated before entering the atmosphere. Where as a 'meteroid' would be a lump of rock which was discovered only after it impacted the shuttle/hubble/iss/atmosphere/etc.
By recent definition this object should not be classified as an asteroid, but a meteoroid. Meteoroid is what the object is when travelling in space. Meteor is the visual phenomenon that you see as the object enters the Earth's upper atmosphere and frictional heating causes the surface of the object to melt and then form a plasma around the object. Meteorite is the remains of a meteoroid that entered the Earth's atmosphere and reached the ground.
It is entirely possible that this meteoroid -depending on its composition, stony, stony-iron, carbonaceous chondrite, or iron/nickel-iron and its velocity and angle of incidence to the Earth's atmosphere- could reach the ground and form a sizable crater. The accepted figure for crater size is roughly 25 times the diameter of the object at the time of impact with the surface. The Barringer Crater was formed by an object estimated to be approximately 50 meters across at the time of impact. If this object reaches the ground at one-half of its present estimated size, it could form a crater 35 to 50 meters across. It would be quite the show if one were within a mile or two of the impact.
Sig this!
So, a Dwarf Asteroid then?
Come play free flash games on Kongregate!
Next time a very large asteroid is on collision with earth, I'll be looking for you to debate the naming of the object? :)
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you fuck, they're both liars. by singling one out you are defending a liar.
vote for either one and you're voting for a liar and taking on the job of a whore.
Too bad we didn't see this thing coming earlier. With a year's warning, it would be great practice to see if we could get some sort of vehicle close enough to destroy it. If we could find a way to target this thing, we could rest assured that we know how to target a larger object that could actually do damage. It would have been great target practice; big enough to track and try to hit but small enough that it doesn't matter if we miss.
Then once they've fully entered the atmosphere astronomers refer to them as "Cosmic World Destroyers.".
But only for a short time.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
I was going to give a response, but I've got a campaign event in less than twelve hours.
Sincerely,
Joe Biden
I saw another estimate of about a 1000 which is close enough.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Meteoroid/meteor: Any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies that hits the earth's atmosphere
No, hitting the atmosphere is what distinguishes meteors from meteoroids.
But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
5% of the meteors are iron. Iron is both denser and darker than the far more common stony meteor which means if the asteroid is made of iron, it'll be bigger than expected because the size estimates are based on the amount of light the asteroid is reflecting. If it's iron, its higher density, combined with its larger size, will improve the odds that some remnants will make earth fall.
If it makes earth fall it'll be by far, the most valuable meteorite ever since it's the first asteroid whose arrival was predicted. It'll literally be money from Heaven for whomever finds a piece.
Not coming from the Geminds' or Leonids' direction, I hope. Is it ?
and I would have to agree.
'Not big enough' sounds like another planet/not-a-planet argument with vaugely defined criteria.
There are some emails in my spam box that think they might be able to help it out ...
Any Slashdotters out there with cameras &c?
Prediction for end of Universe #42: Fencepost error in Quantum_bogosort.cpp
size challenged asteroid
One of the posters on mpml put up these pictures of the expected impact area...
http://www.southing.com/Templates/diary/diary_entries/sudan/diary_right_10dec.htm
What happens if this "object" is shaped like a spear ? So it only looks 3m wide from our perspective of looking at it, and really there is another couple of km behind it ?!? Will the Earth be skewered like a cherrie on a tooth pick ? :-)
OK, so here's what we do. We hit the rock with matching force. We launch Verne 'Mini-Me' Troyer on a Scooty-Puff Jr out to blow it up. And instead of Tea Leoni on MSNBC, we go with that 'Leave Britney Alone' character on You Tube.
I shall call it [using quote fingers] "Deep Impact 2: Meteoric Boogaloo." This time, it's igneous. Or metamorphic. [Shrugs] Whatever. I don't know rock types.
Update - 6:45 PM PDT (1 hour prior to atmospheric entry)
Since its discovery barely a day ago, 2008 TC3 has been observed extensively by astronomers around the world, and as a result, our orbit predictions have become very precise. We estimate that this object will enter the Earth's atmosphere at around 2:45:28 UTC and reach maximum deceleration at around 2:45:54 UTC. These times are uncertain by +/- 15 seconds or so. The time at which any fragments might reach the ground depends a great deal on the physical properties of the object, but should be around 2:46:20 UTC +/- 40 seconds.
T-750 and counting
Prediction for end of Universe #42: Fencepost error in Quantum_bogosort.cpp
in a 24 hour period we saw the fall of Wall Street and now the fall of the sky (ok, a very small part of it)... what will be next?
Does it realy matter if it
A)causes news coverage that interupts your TV watching
B) lands on your house or
C) blots out the sun/ distroys all life on earth
Read my blog you know you want to
Giant insects will look back on this one day and laugh.
You can't take the sky from me.
The only thing that really bothers me about this story is that it was detected so close to the impact time. I hope that's only due to the relative small size of the object.
With, lo, 1 minute to impact it occurs to me to wonder how they are so sure of the size of this rock.
Naquadah
What... the 'roid will dramatically increase the oxygen content of the planet? (insectoid respiratory systems are terribly inefficient, hence drastically limiting their size) ... ok, well that last bit kinda ruined the intended joke... except, I didn't think anyone would get it otherwise... *throws hands up in air in self frustration* ... btw, did it hit yet?
I do hope it respects the no-smoking here signs.
Is Taco Bell going to setup a target so everyone in America gets a free taco if it hits the right spot?
Are we still alive?
"Out floating in space."? Is 40,000-65,000 mph called "out floating" in your book?
yah... its all relative, mang... whole solar system is moving through the galaxy at sowhere between 220 and 250 kilometers per second... i.e., between 490,000mph and 560,000mph... and, while I don't know about you... but I can't even feel it happening!!
Oh crap, the fate of the earth depends on the accuracy of a slashdot summary?!?
We call them "shooting stars", and wish on them.
This one is a "collision asteroid" because it's good marketing for Star Wars "missile defense" gussied up for more recent Hollywood treatment like _Deep Impact_.
--
make install -not war
Am I the only person who just about crapped his pants when he started reading TFA? Likewise, am I the only person who made the general assumption that an 'asteroid' referred to an object significantly larger than what they're talking about here? WTF dude!?
is Minor Asteroid
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Asteroid, meteoroid or hemorrhoid; what does it matter? They're all a pain in the ass.
Now that it hit, zombie party at CERN!
I need this in a metric that I can understand.
How many atomic bombs does a kiloton of TNT equal?
If it doesn't enter the atmosphere as a single piece (your assumption for simplicities sake), won't you have more surface area thereby increasing the friction and accelerating the energy release (erm, I think impulse is the term I'm looking for... it's been a few years since high school physics and I was never any good at it to begin with)? Or, you'll have the same amount of energy released in a shorter time frame which will be more forceful than the 'shell' burning away in the atmosphere at a more steady rate. Is this correct?
If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.
Its called good suspension. You get it on the bigger vehicles.
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
+1 Reference to one of my favorite movies of all time!
I hate printers.
...and Cruise both fly up in Revolta's jet and hit the damn thing head-on. That'll solve three problems at once.
Micreor? Asterissimal?
Get off my virtual lawn, you damned virtual kids!
It doesn't matter whether it hits the ground in one piece, splits into fragments, or burns up entirely before impact. The energy release is the same; only the location and form of the released energy will vary. I was assuming that the OP meant 1 kton of energy dissipated as heat into the atmosphere. It's a weird unit of measure to use for anything that isn't a point explosion, though. Still, I wonder how much it takes to noticeably affect anything beyond a temporary light show—the weather, perhaps. Probably more than this meteor has, even with your higher figure, unless it hits the ground.
That is too small to think of as an asteroid. Myself I'd make the switch at maybe 100 meters.
oids eors and ites are just rocks. But when Meteora hits, it became quad-platinum! see what I did there?
It's what we call a boredom killer.
The meteorite is the source of the light
And the meteor's just what we see
And the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee
And the meteorite's just what causes the light
And the meteor's how it's perceived
And the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee
-- Joanna Newsom, 'Emily'
If we can only find them 2 hours before they're scheduled to hit, that's about all we can do.
Well? Did we die?
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
A kiloton scale impact is a once a month thing. The only interesting thing about this collision is that we detected the object in advance. All the other ones have hit without warning. A 20 kiloton impact is a once a year event. It's only when you get to 10 megaton events that you have to worry about any effects on the ground, (apart from people looking at the bolide being temporarily or permanently blinded).
Support SETI@home
Nah... it's Dad having an orgasm.
A meteoroid is an object in space, not in the atmosphere, that is smaller than about 10m; objects in space larger than that are asteroids.
When a meteroid enters the atmosphere, it becomes a meteor.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Apologies for the redundant correction!
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Another escape from Darth.
So an asteroid that interacts with our atmosphere would be an aster, and if it hit the earth it'd be an asterite? Firefox's spell check disagrees ;)
-b
No offense, but I've stopped responding to AC's.
That a meter(oid)/asteroid that gets this kind of press coverage would get a name more creative than "2008 TC3". Geez, the Greeks and Romans had that down thousands of years ago. What happened? Joey
And in the atmosphere it's called hail.
Does it realy matter if it A)causes news coverage that interupts your TV watching B) lands on your house or C) blots out the sun/ distroys all life on earth
I am not sure about A. If B happens, you wont read this post and if C happens, neither of us will be able to read this post after the impact.
Next time, get the 2.0 liter 4 cylinder model with the sports suspension, better response...
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
you are funny.
Obligatory "That's no asteroid!" comment.
It only becomes a meteorite if it doesn't become and ELE. Then it becomes a HYHTTKYAGite.
According to Obama's website it says:
He is going to spend Billions on Universal Health coverage.
He is going to spend Billions to provide child care
He is going to spend Billions on Education.
He is going to spend Billions Social Security.
He is going to spend Billions on "Universal Voluntary Public Service"
He is going to spend Billions on the Defense(92,000 additional soldiers)
He is going to spend $150 billion more on Energy
He is going to spend Billions on Homeland Security
He is going to spend Billions on Welfare
He is going to spend Billions on Veterans
He is going to spend Billions on "transportation systems"
He is going to spend Billions on tax cuts for those who don't pay taxes.(This is called Welfare)
He is going to doubling federal funding for basic scientific research
He is going to spend Billions on much more I have not listed.
He is going to remove the tax burden from Farmers, Seniors, Lower class, Middle Class, Homeowners, Small Businesses, College Parents, Uninsured, etc.(So the only ones really paying taxes are Large corporations and Rich people...both of which are despised by Obama and will likely be driven from this country by high taxes and new Obama mandates! Then who will pay the taxes?)
So when Obama says he is going to spend spend spend and at the same time lower or remove the tax burden from 95% of Americans, No I do not believe him.
Obama either doesn't know simple math or he is lying to everyone.
So rather than have the country run into the ground by Obama I would prefer he is run into the ground by an Asteroid.
Instead of spending the enormous dollars it takes to explore other planets*, wouldn't it be cheaper to:
1. Send up a unit to slow down some of these meteors,
2. Pick them up in orbit
3. Deliver them to the Space Station for scientific research
4. Maybe even package them for a soft landing for ground based researchers to examine
5. ????
6. Profit!!!
With all the talk about panspermia, what better way to explore this possibility? Otherwise we are left with the burnt out husks of what has hit the earth.
This very well may be the cheapest easiest way to explore space. From our couch!
* I still think we should try to explore other planets, but this presents a great value.
Look at how little notice we get. You /. guys gotta get laid, like right now!
That sinking feeling deep in your gut when you KNOW you screwed up bad summed up with: {head desk} {head desk}
33333 That's what I was thinking about the whole time I was reading through this discussion.
By what name do you wish to be mourned?
Hail to the queen!
First LHC, then this... hold on to your towels, i think the vogons will be the next.
No. To be an aster it must be able to sustain nuclear fusion. Because "astera" is latin and means "star".
And yes: Asteroids are literally "star-like thingies".
At which point, all the dead will wake up, society will crumble, and then we'll have much more important things to worry about than what to call it.
Just saying, is all.
God is dead -- Nietzsche
Nietzsche is dead -- God
Zombie Nietzsche lives! -- Zombie Nietzsche
You are not familiar with the /. moderation system.
God is dead -- Nietzsche
Nietzsche is dead -- God
Zombie Nietzsche lives! -- Zombie Nietzsche
You forgot:
D) Wakes up all the dead.
Which reminds me, I have to update my Zombie Action Plan.
God is dead -- Nietzsche
Nietzsche is dead -- God
Zombie Nietzsche lives! -- Zombie Nietzsche
And if it's in my drink, then I'm too drunk to care.
God is dead -- Nietzsche
Nietzsche is dead -- God
Zombie Nietzsche lives! -- Zombie Nietzsche
Well, since it's headed for Sudan and not Rio De Janerio, we won't have to go to war.
Beware the oids of march
Or a snowball, if it's too small.
This is the first time I've seen this kind of news on slashdot. I dont believe my eyes. Has slashdot really SUNK that low? What kind of title is that? A title like that can only scare people. Like the headlines on TV news and newspapers. Anthrax! Terrorism! Spiced up to increase ratings. Scare people for an asteroid that will burn up in the atmosphere? Why? I really thought slashdot was better than this.
There was a suggestion made that this might be a booster from a mars probe because its orbit does take it close to mars, Another possibility is that it is a fragment of mars.
The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million-to-one.
Squirrel!
Just accelerate Earth a little bit. This will do the job.
4 replies later, and nobody notices that he's using r^2 in a *volume* formula? Yes, yes, in 3 dimensions?
No, he is new here.
It's probably too late to get a mission ready for this rock, but according TFA there will probably be another one along in a few months. Catching a rock like this for study would be challenging, useful and interesting.
How feasible would this be? Obviously it would take a lot of energy to slow this thing down, and doing it so without obliterating it in the process would be tricky, but I'm sure humanity can think up something. If the rock is largely iron, could magnetic fields be used to slow it?
Too many Google phone articles. At first I thought a small Android phone was on a collision course with Earth...
What are they DOING?
Flappinbooger isn't my real name
And an asteroid breaking in two would be two hemorrhoids?
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
But it's october.
I talk about stuff.
Dwarf stars
dwarf planets
now dwarf asteroids
What about the elves?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Well Bush spent trillions on invading other countries. So if Obama simply avoids that, yes he'll probably have enough money for all that and more.
You thought you could break the laws of physics without paying the PRICE?
Looks like a Torino Zero event:
And if we're really lucky it will turn out to be 4 miles across.
Hi Sarah.... I totally agree with you. You're HOT !!!!
The fate of the earth does NOT lie with the slashdot editors, it is tied to the accuracy of slashdot moderators.
I suggest investing in shotgun shells and water filters.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
This will all be over after I go to Casa Bonita on Saturday....
i am sympathetic to their cause. the javanese are not interested in their well-being
however, the tsuami squashed the rebellion, which is true. that's all i made note of
you need to work on your communication skills
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Oh, and Ronald Reagan.
A shooting star is not a star
Is not a star at all
A shooting star's a meteor
That's heading for a fall
A shooting star is not a star
Why does it shine so bright?
The friction as it falls through air
Produces heat and light
A shooting star or meteor
Whichever name you like
The minute it comes down to Earth
It's called a meteorite
The meteorite is the source of the light
And the meteor's just what we see
And the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee
And the meteorite's just what causes the light
And the meteor's how it's perceived
And the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee
**TODO** Steal someone elses sig.
If earth isn't doomed by this meteor, i don't want to hear about it.
Stupidity only gets you so far, then you've gotta try
it helps not to demonstrate how bad your communication skills are when someone says you have a problem there
but thanks for playing little kid
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Then you have a lot of bewaring to do.
I have nothing to say.
It's been bouncing around in my head now for a month, and reading that just made the light turn on. She sounds a lot like Johnny Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka in the 2005 remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Scary. Now all we need is the 7up guy (Geoffrey Holder) doing voice over in the political ads.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
A little people asteroid.
blah blah blah
lol lol lol
zzz zzz zzz"
are you babbling again cretin? go, play in your corner. and its past your bedtime anyways
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
It's not fat, it's just big boned!
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
Well, no, they'd still be meteors and meteorites. But the mark it leaves (crater or geological crater remnants) is called an astrobleme.
The rock (actually more nickel-iron) that formed the Barringer Crater in Arizona was big enough to be called an asteroid, the crater is also known as Meteor Crater and the remaining fragments of the asteroid are called meteorites (Canyon Diablo meteorites, named as per tradition after the nearest post office). The crater itself is an astrobleme.
Of course if the surviving fragments were originally from Superman's home planet, they're called kryptonite.
-- Alastair
http://dorigo.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/asteroid-2008-tc3-hits-sudan/
"Violence is the last refuge of the competent, and, generally, the first refuge of the incompetent" - Thing_1
Only /. could take a story that could be about their own demise and turn it into an arguement about semantics.
Who cares if we're dying, you just said to-mah-toe!
Or would it be red-hot twins?
They say preparation-H will help you with your assteroids. I had surgery on mine.
Oh asteroid, never mind...
Free Martian Whores!
The earth is flat.
There is no atmosphere.
Cause of the bark!
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
Uh. . . So it has a .2% chance of missing the Earth, but if it doesn't miss, then it is known for certain exactly when and where it will strike. And that place just happens to be a geo-political hot zone?
So what is that exactly? Stupid math? Stupid reporting? Or. . ?
If I wanted to nuke somebody but not get blamed for it. . . Or if I wanted people to think that I'd nuked you and was trying to cover my tracks. Or if I wanted to muddy the waters with incomplete ideas and raise the state of confusion and alarm another notch closer to the breaking point. . .
Confusion is the method; nobody gets any straight answers, attention is diffused so no positive steps can be taken --but the stress-level is successfully raised and the dark deed accomplished.
But there is a solution.
Enough attention and postulation subverts dark plans because a correct postulation gives predictive power and respect to the postulator, and this is a danger. --A couple of correct postulations in a row, and then people have a reason to act pre-emptively. And since it's always the same villain responsible, they can't have that. Conversely, an incorrect postulation means that the speaker loses respect and personal confidence and power. And that's a good thing from the perspective of a control freak.
But. . . What they don't get is that when the ego is detached from the process, there is no diminishing of confidence or personal power. Logical predictions based on observations of the possible leads to a kind of dis-arming of the event. Stay alert; if you know and see the danger, if you look it in the eyes and experience the result in-vitro as it were, the chances are much reduced of an actual event taking place. That's been my experience in events large and small. Plan for the worst and the worst never happens. Funny, that. Knowledge protects, eh?
-FL
I had asteroids once and boy did they hurt?
This reminds me of a joke many of you have probably heard.
Mickey Mouse decides to file for divorce. When they get in front of the judge, he seems skeptical. The judge says to Mickey, "So what you're saying is that your wife, Minnie is a little strange?" Mickey said, "No! What I said was that she was fucking Goofy."
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
That would make the impact right about no....
Are you sure about that? My understanding was that a stationary rock in space was an asteroid, a space rock in motion was a meteor, a rock in motion within the amoshpere was a meteorite, and a rock inside the Earth's atmosphere that didn't move was called a politician.
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news160.html
Confirmation has been received that the asteroid impact fireball occurred at the predicted time and place. The energy recorded was estimated to be 0.9 to 1.0 kT of TNT and the time of detection was 02:45:45 on October 7 (Greenwich Standard Time). More details on this detection will be forthcoming. An additional confirmation was apparently reported by a KLM airliner (see: (http://www.spaceweather.com). As reported by Peter Brown (University of Western Ontario, Canada), a preliminary examination of infrasound stations nearest to the predicted impact point shows that at least one station recorded the event. These measurements are consistent with the predicted time and place of the atmospheric impact and indicate an estimated energy of 1.1 - 2.1 kT of TNT.
Just in case anyone's still checking all the way down here...
size DOES matter, ESPECIALLY in THIS case ... you do not want two quarter-pounders "hanging there" ;-)
to code or not to code, that is the question.
Have you ever heard of the theory of relativity? I feel relatively better having a Hemorrhoid than an Asteroid ... and a Hemorrhoid entering the atmosphere (with owner attached) does not have much of an impact on all of human kind but one ...
to code or not to code, that is the question.
I could tell ya how to increase the explosive power of a missile-delivered atomic bomb by 25,000 times but then I'd hafta kill ya.
If I drink enough, I can usually start to feel how fast everything is moving ... and spinning ...
I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
The total spend on Iraq to this point 800 Billion. and Obama says he wants to add 92,000 additional soldiers.
92,000 X $40,000(est. annual cost) = 3,680,000,000
I don't think Obama will cut spending, he has voted for just about every spending bill he has had the chance to vote for. He has not said specifically what he will cut.
Simple fact one: The US can't just keep on spending money it hasn't really got. 8 years of it is too much already.
Simple fact two: Tax will have to be raised and spending cut to avoid total economic meltdown.
You thought you could break the laws of physics without paying the PRICE?
The largest expenditure of the Federal Government is Social Spending. According to Obama's website he is going to increase every form of social spending by Billions of dollars. His Health program alone will be Trillions of dollars. When Health care is a "Right" that means it should be provided for everyone. Who is going to pay for it? Government protects our "rights" and so by Obama's logic Government will protect/manage our Health Care "right". Even if you Trust Obama to run Health Care(which I don't), He will not be the only future President we have. In the future they will be talking about Obama's Health Care the way we talk about Social Security now.
Taxes will not have to be raised if spending is cut. Raising taxes will hurt an already hurting economy. Obama's plan to tax the top 5% will hurt the economy even more. You cannot tax the economy into growth. Taxes paid to Government = money taken out of the economy run through the bureaucracy and then trickle back into the economy.
Either way neither candidate has a good plan to fix the economy, but Obama is the one candidate that never says no to anybody when it comes to spending. Just look at his web page, He wants to spend more money on every issue.
...the asteroid hit at 0243 UTC with an energy between 1.1 and 2.1 kilotons of TNT.
from http://www.spaceweather.com/
Goofy (in the UK at least) tends to mean front teeth that protrude. But, with a little reworking, your joke could be number one over here. :)
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Arrrgh. Yet something else, heating up our world, causing the ice to melt, and polar bears, poor cute, cuddly polar bears, they'll drown, drown! Leave them alone, you bastards... :(
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As long as he stops deliberately wrecking the budget and avoids another war, Obama will be an improvement upon the incumbent. Looks like we'll find out.
You thought you could break the laws of physics without paying the PRICE?
It does look like we will find out.
With everyone as upset as they are with the last 8 years of a Republican in the presidency, you would think that Obama would be blowing his Republican challenger out of the water. Especially when die hard Republicans don't even like McCain. I think in a way Obama scares everyone except the extreme left.
Go to digg for the articles, Go to slashdot for the bad jokes.
Hey, i am not complaining...
Not really, how about spending some quality time or do something you've always wanted to do, make peace with your enemy, eat a nice steak and fries, scream from the top of your lungs, or even post on Slashdot your last thoughts...
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