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2010 AL30, Asteroid Or Space Junk, To Pay a Close Visit

astroengine writes "A near-Earth object that could be manmade has just been discovered hurtling toward us. On Wednesday (Jan. 13), an object called 2010 AL30 will fly by Earth at a distance of just 130,000 km (80,000 miles). That's only one-third of the way from here to the moon, i.e. very close. It will miss us, and if it did hit us, it wouldn't do any damage anyway, but I managed to pick up on some chatter between planetary scientists and found out that the 'asteroid,' or whatever it is, gives us a new standard: a 10-meter-wide asteroid can be detected two days before it potentially hits Earth. A pretty useful warning if you ask me."

6 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. Re:2 days? by flyingfsck · · Score: 2, Informative

    My guess is that schtuff coming from behind the sun mostly tends to fall either into the sun, or be wildly accelerated away in a hyperbole. So the 'blind spot' is likely a rather 'safe spot'.

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    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  2. Re:Not an asteroid? by kalidasa · · Score: 2, Informative

    Or, in somewhat more technical terms, the fact that they suspect it's manmade suggests it has a very high albedo, which would make it much easier to find.

  3. Re:2 days? by j-b0y · · Score: 2, Informative

    Unlikely! Gaia will not be launched until 2012.

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    Please remain calm, there is no reason to pani... wait, where are you all going?
  4. Re:Not an asteroid? by Sockatume · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's not thought to be "space junk" any more: it was thought it might be an old booster segment but apparently based on its path there's no rocket launch that it could've come from.

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    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  5. Re:Two days? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The box contains nothing.

    Nothing has more mass than the entire universe

    Therefore, the box has more mass than the rock.