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Asteroid To Pass Near Earth On Monday
TigerNut writes "Asteroid 2011 MD was discovered on June 22 by LINEAR, and its flight path will take it within 8000 miles (12000 km) of Earth. Orbital predictions indicate that its flight path will be significantly altered by this close approach."
The opening paragraph of the fine article: Asteroid 2011 MD, a chunk of rock estimated to be 25 to 55 feet (8 to 18 m) across, [...]
Post tenebras lux. Post fenestras tux.
I'm amazed that 25 feet qualifies as an asteroid.
You can't take the sky from me.
Some definitions call anything below fifty meters a meteoroid.
It's a bit large to merely be cosmic lint, isn't it?
Post tenebras lux. Post fenestras tux.
I'm even more amazed that we could accurately detect and track an object of this size.
Quoting the fine article: "But there's no chance that the asteroid will hit Earth on this approach, and almost no risk at its next close approach, in 2022. If the asteroid did strike, it would probably explode in the upper atmosphere — a fine spectacle, but harmless."
Post tenebras lux. Post fenestras tux.
Right, because a golf ball that is about 1/150th the size of a human is exactly like hitting something (say, the Earth) with something that is 1/50,000,000th the size of it. The earth getting hit with a 25 foot object at fast speed is probably less like getting hit in the nuts with a golf ball and more like getting hit in the upper arm by a spec of sand.
Exactly my thought. 12 km is a close call and it doesn't happen that often, something like this could have been noticed, and announced, much much earlier.
How about a 50 foot soap bubble?
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
An asteroid eventually hitting the earth is a sure thing, but hitting "us" is far from a sure thing. The asteroid most likely to hit earth in our lifetime has a 99.918% chance of missing.
Uhh, the damage to earth itself would be minimal. But have you forgotten that people live on the earth, however? I sure wouldn't want an object like that falling on my car, or my home, or into my pool, or onto my dog, or even onto myself. It would cause some pretty bad damage.
That's deceptively close, 8000 miles is the diameter of the earth. This thing is only gonna miss us by an earths width!
"Space... is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is..." "The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination." Lint might actually be a generous descriptor.
Good-bye
anubis did it!
Not everything in this life can be monitored or prevented. There is very little point in spending huge sums of money scanning for world killers as at this point there isnt much we can do about it anyways.
Good-bye
How much would melt away in reentry? Objects that big have been caught on camera before and thankfully bounced off back into space. I would not want this to hit my house but if only 5 or 6 feet service it would not be a life altering event other than a big pop somewhere or splash. I believe the astroid that killed the dinosars was a quarter mile wide wasn't it? Now that would be devestating.
http://saveie6.com/
I appreciate your post. Particularly because it gives me a great idea to finish my screenplay of Caddyshack III: Spaceballs 2.
I remember one a couple of years ago that came from an odd trajectory; pretty much from the Sun's corona. Surprised the crap out of everyone. And yeah, 25-50' across is pretty tiny to be seen by terrestrial telescopes at these distances, and pretty much everything out there moves at fairly high velocity.
If you're within miles of this thing hitting the surface, you'd no longer have any problems. On the other hand, Tunguska is assumed to have exploded some distance above the surface, which might amplify its effects on fleshy things down here (same plan they used with nukes in WWII). However, that one is believed to have been considerably larger than this.
Add also that these things are made up of varying stuff; collections of dirt & gravel, big solid rocks, or metal, all bearing down at the surface at horrific speeds. The D&G might shatter and burn up, but the others likely not.
If it was a comet, you might see it sooner, but they generally move at much higher velocity - much bigger kaboom on impact.
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
Not everything in this life can be monitored or prevented. There is very little point in spending huge sums of money scanning for world killers as at this point there isnt much we can do about it anyways.
Well, I could revise my plans for what to do with my life savings. And when to do it.
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
Oops, sorry (mis-read the article). Tunguska is believed to be about this size (tens of meters across).
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
If it had that roughtly that diameter, was made of rock and was inside the orbit of our moon, its proper name should have been Earth. And if it wasnt we will be screwed up, no matter if hits or miss, and not just for the tides, the messing with our orbit around the sun and the messing with the orbits of most of the solar system probably, but because if we didnt noticed it till 3 days ago we shouldnt trust in anything that we know about the universe, if we cant see something so big until is so close.
...of the asteroids that we know about...
Cool story, bro.
Getting hit in the upper arm by a spec of sand might not hurt you, a human, but it would be devastating to a colony of microbes living on your arm in that spot.
We know that some of these objects are not very solid, but are loosely bound conglomerates of rubble. Is there any chance that this could brake into fragments due to tidal forces when it passes close to the Earth? Is there any information about it's composition?
Why is Snark Required?
i could do with a reset button...
It appears to be unresolved which impact crater was the one that killed the non-avian dinosaurs (the avian variety are still here: we call them "birds" now). However, the Chicxulub crater in Mexico dating from around that time was caused by a 6-mile wide asteroid:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater
A quarter-mile wide asteroid is nothing to sneeze at, and would probably destroy a city or worse, but isn't nearly as bad as this one which caused a giant cloud to cover the planet. Of course, the devastation of an asteroid depends on other factors besides its size, including its composition, angle of entry, and entry velocity.
Animations Here are some nice animations of the path of the asteroid.
The rapture is coming June 27th! I have done the calculations myself and can say with absolute certainty that this is an accurate date.
Asteroid 2011 MD was estimated to be 25 to 55 feet which is in the "Local Damage" asteroid range whose impacts occur about 1 – 10 times per century.
BTW, that's "Local Damage" only if you're not local to the damage; else, it's lethal damage.
The fact that it was discovered so late is unnerving.
Can I light a sig ?
This object is 10 meters in diameter. "Asteroid 2011 MD, a chunk of rock estimated to be 25 to 55 feet (8 to 18 m) across, is expected to pass less than 8,000 miles above Earth's surface around 1 p.m. EDT (17:00 UT) on Monday, June 27th." -form source.
The logical demarcation between meteoroid and asteroid http://goo.gl/Ws6xp “adopt 10 m as the dividing line for an object to be considered to be either an asteroid or a meteoroid...natural objectsolidlarger than 100 micro m” -Martin Beech and Duncan Steel, U of W Ontario, On the Definition of the term ‘Meteoroid’
Obviously, this object doesn't definitely qualify as an asteroid because it's debatable if alien spacecraft are "natural".
(||) Nehmo (||)
Even if it was going to pass close enough to be withing range of, say a space shuttle, they couldn't get one launched in time.
They fact that it was only spotted a few days away is worrying.
Don't panic. I read that somewhere.
According to the Discover Article (http://news.discovery.com/space/visualizing-asteroid-2011-md-zip-past-earth-animation-110624.html), this is within the orbit of GPS satellites. While it seems most are not concerned about a collision with Earth, what happens if it takes out a satellite (or two)? Or something worse like colliding with the ISS. I hope there are some observation satellites than can a good view of the approach (and/or pass).
We really don't need construction material. What we need is propellant.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Knowing about the threat would sure help us develop those means, though, right? You may have accidentally seen at least one asteroid movie (I don't blame you if you haven't, though). The response to the threat, and all of the attend technological innovations, always comes about *after* the Earth is facing imminent destruction. Seems unlikely, but in a world where Steve Buscemi can be selected to be on an Earth-saving mission to Space, anything is possible.
"He's got space dementia!"
Do you really think we should really be in the business of trying to attract asteroids into orbit? Can't see anything that can possibly go wrong?
How about we wait to calculate the next closest approach until after it's left Earth's gravity well. I know our understanding of spatial dynamics is pretty much complete (between Newton and Kepler, we have almost all the knowledge we need), but we've only known about this thing for, what, 3 days? Also, there's the whole "Orbital predictions indicate that its flight path will be significantly altered by this close approach" thing, which tells me we aren't 100% sure which way this thing will be leaving our neighbourhood. I don't want to be thinking that we won't be seeing this thing until 2022 when it comes a knocking in 2020.
So as long as it doesn't hit Earth's nuts, everything should be all right. Right?
But seriously. Sure, the energy of the impact depends on mass and speed. And hence also the damage done. And if we were talking about an asteroid of 25 miles across, I'd certainly go and spend my money on some fun before it's all over.
The possible damage an object can have on impact depends on three things: Speed, mass and volume. Now, 7.5m across (that's 25ft in SI units) isn't even a pebble on the stellar scale. Still, if accelerated to speeds beyond 0.1c and having a mass of 7+ g/cm we'd be facing quite a threat (according to this it seems the average density is closer to 1-3 g/cm, though). Since the pebble is affected by Earth's gravity, enough to change its course, my guess is that the kinetic energy (which, again, depends on mass and velocity) is fairly low. An impact would certainly be noticeable, no doubt about that, and it would also most likely not be pleasant to live right where it comes down. But I guess we'll have to look elsewhere for the big killer of 2012.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
How exactly do you intend to use water for fuel?
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Well, let's first of all define what "problem" means. Destruction of a town? Tsunamis? Dust across a continent? Nuclear winter and the end of civilization? How big does the impact have to be to be a "problem"?
Also, due to T=m*v^2/2, it's more a matter of speed than of mass. Does anyone have a reliable source for the speed of various asteroids that clutter our sky?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
That's not fuel - that's reaction mass. You use fuel (or an external energy source, such as solar) to heat it up.
Heh I thought you were going to recommend a chiropractic adjustment for a moment there.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, actually, I do. Do you? To make your golf ball example a little more realistic, cover your groin with about a foot of bubble wrap and repeat your experiment. Can you feel the golf ball now? No? Nor would the earth feel the impact from the asteroid, as it would explode and burn up way, way, way up high in the upper atmosphere. The effects on the earth would be essentially nil.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
As long as we've got our towels, we're fine :) But we should probably scarf down some peanuts; we'll need the salt.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Whenever you hear something like this, the headline is always "Asteroid to Pass Within XXX of Earth!!!"
The first things I want to know are not the distance, but its size and velocity. Because those tell me how hard they better work on knowing the exact distance.
This is why the oximoronic term "astronomically small" has been coined.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
well seeing as we only just detected it 4 days ago it's not exactly like we did "track" it or "detect" it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers
Brrr
Of course that's what they said.
Consider this. If they *know* it's going to hit the Earth, and even estimate about where it will hit, there are three choices.
1) Tell the truth and say "It's going to hit here at this time, with the effective energy of X atomic bombs" (I love that SI unit). People will panic. You wouldn't get any sort or orderly evacuation. Imagine if it were to hit near a metro area in the US. Millions of people would be displaced, even if it's only temporary. Now, what if they were off by a couple hundred miles? Aw shit, sorry guys, we were wrong. You evacuated to the impact site. Doesn't matter much, since you're dead.
2) STFU and don't say anything. Always a good choice, except amateur astronomers will likely spot it too. Again, when that makes the news, there will be mass panic, and an abundance of bad intelligence on the impact location, strength, etc.
3) Say "Don't worry, it'll miss us." If that ends up being true, there is no mass panic. No evacuations. No looting, robbing, raping, or pillaging. Life goes on as boring as ever. If it does hit, they can say "Oops, sorry". I'm sure that would be accompanied with a detailed explanation of how they were unable to calculate for some unknown like a freak solar flare or something.
As someone else pointed out, they said it'll miss by about 12,000 kilometers. That sounds safe until you consider that the distance from the Earth to the Moon averages about 384,000 kilometers. Or how about this, the object is going to pass through Geostationary Orbit (GEO) twice (once coming, once going), and at least into Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). It won't be a danger to the ISS, who sits far below that. There are plenty of satellites floating around in MEO and GEO.
It's doubtful an object the size of that asteroid would intersect with a satellite, but it is a risk. That could result in extra space debris, or a rather uncoordinated reentry of a satellite or other "parked" space junk.
So, it's not just going to pass by harmless through empty space. It's going to pass through space where we have a bunch of shit laying around.
Myself, I'm not worried. It's a small rock that has a small risk of hitting the Earth or something close by. I won't discount the possibility that a fast moving rock may hit us very hard and very fast, but if it does, there isn't much we can do about it anyways. If it does hit us an cause an ELE, I'll work on what to do from there. With any luck, it won't crash through the roof of my office, and onto my desk. :)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
There are 3 asteroids in that picture if you look to the right of the one the arrow points out.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/files/2008/04/mr-fusion.jpg
Have you ever had a golfer hit a golf ball into your penis and scrotum? Have you?
Okay I'm not so worried about a small asteroid that will burn up in the atmosphere, but if you're telling me some goofy alien with a wicked sense of humour is aiming for my nutsack, you have my attention!!!
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Sounds like it's practicing. I think we should nuke it, just to be sure.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
have you ever tried orbitting an asteroid? Nuking it just to be sure is going to be HARD!
People, what a bunch of bastards
This was my question. At least if it does, we'll know farther in advance!
Maybe they should call it an asteroidoid.
The good thing is that these small ones only take one hit to destroy.
well seeing as we only just detected it 4 days ago it's not exactly like we did "track" it or "detect" it.
Your sentence is false by contradiction :-) Have a nice day!
An asteroid is a somewhat historical term. A meteoroid is a sand- to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar System. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth's (or another body's) atmosphere is called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star or falling star. If a meteoroid reaches the ground and survives impact, then it is called a meteorite.
Interestingly enough, no designation exists for an asteroid that reaches the ground and survives impact.
The three laws of thermodynamics:(1) You can't win. (2) You can't break even. (3) You can't even quit.
It does not necessarily pass through GEO. GEO is also defined as over the equator specifically, and it is rather unlikely that the asteroid will happen to be above that point when it crosses the proper altitude.
"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations..." -Winston Churchill
The problem with the definition of an asteroid is that telescopic surveys are not becoming good enough that smaller objects previously not studied are now being spotted, plotted, and designated by the IAU and the Minor Planet Center. The number of asteroids receiving a catalog number has exploded in recent years, to the point that very few are even being named any more. The current number of objects identified is now more than a half million.
It will be interesting to see when that catalog may be "closed" to a new object that don't meet some sort of size criteria, or what will start happening when more objects of man-made origin get mixed into the database. There are several abandoned vehicles (their power cells/solar panels no longer work and are therefore "dead") and stuff like the Apollo 8 3rd Stage engine (which went into solar orbit) that are "out there" and a few "asteroids" that may be some of this space junk. The Saturn V 3rd stage was identified because of the Titanium-Oxide paint on the outsize... something not normally found on "natural" bodies. Human interaction with especially the smaller asteroids is going to really start making a mess of these catalogs too.
And then what? How do you extract more energy from steam than it took to heat the steam?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Yes. Yes, we have. Orbited an asteroid, that is, not the nuking bit. And we'll do it again next month. Of course, these are much, much bigger hunks of rock.
yes, but it only rates sending Bruce Willis alone, equipped with a pistol drill and a Party Popper(tm)
Yes, it certainly is too bad that NASA doesn't do anything anymore.
(Sorry if I left out your favorite misson; there's just so many.)
Turtles.
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
There is very little point in spending huge sums of money scanning for world killers as at this point there isnt much we can do about it anyways.
Calling something that's 8 to 18 meters across a "world killer" is rather generous, though.
I may be wrong, but ELE (Extinction Level Event) might fit.
Freud might say that Intelligent Design is religion's ID.
NASA has only done what it has been allowed to. The military (via NASA) put us on the moon.
Freud might say that Intelligent Design is religion's ID.
I'm pretty sure that would just be called a rock or if it was larger, a bolder.
You can't take the sky from me.
It's a lot cheaper to build something in space with materials you get from space than it is to build it on the ground and launch the whole thing up.
No, actually it's not. It takes a lot of oxygen, carbon, water, and limestone to make steel. Once it is made, it needs to be alloyed. Once it is ready, it needs to be cast, then machined, then assembled. In short it requires many tons of infrastructure to make a ton of steel. That doesn't give you any of the specialty metals and alloys, plastics, ceramics, and other materials that you need for a spacecraft. You're actually much better off building things on Earth, launching them, and "fuelling" them in orbit.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Is somewhere between South America and Antarctica.
Probably a good place to watch it would be in Atacama desert, but sadly its going to be in plain daylight.
Probably still pissed with his demotion and wants a fly-by.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Right. The earth might not care much, but the insignificant organic beings living at the impact site might not enjoy it.
We might not be able to destroy it, but deflecting something even slightly, with far enough warning, might be all it takes to make the difference between "watching it pass" and "counting down to impact."
Why does everyone assume we have to destroy the thing or we've failed?
Make sure you orient them correctly with acceleration vector. Turtles hate when "down" isn't ventral to them. Especially when you are using them to violate the 1st law of thermodynamics.
Well I suppose if we were communicating in German, I might be able to respond with a single word, representing "I love being able to convey a complete thought with a single word." And then I would have conveyed this one as well. :)
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.