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Close Approach By Asteroid 2012 BX34
An anonymous reader writes with news that asteroid 2012 BX34, 11 meters wide, is in the process of passing within 60,000km of Earth — about a fifth of the distance between the Earth and the Moon. At that size, the asteroid would pose no danger even if it hit the Earth's atmosphere.
The Mayans were right!!!!
Either the summary changed or Brucelet neglected to read the summary where it says the asteroid is 11 meters wide.
"An anonymous reader writes with news that asteroid 2012 BX34, 11 meters wide,"
Hope people have some sanity, but with the shape of the world today, I have my doubts.
If that's a rocky asteroid, as opposed to mostly frozen gasses, I expect it could still present a sizeable dent. Lots of old craters on this world, just covered up mostly by erosion, plant life, etc.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
"...news that asteroid 2012 BX34, 11 meters wide..."
"...news that asteroid 2012 BX34, 11 meters wide..."
Size is one thing, what's it made of? If it were iron/nickel it could be "interesting times" should it come to earth. Rocky wouldn't be as bad. Frozen gasses would be pretty exciting, but as it's not trailing a coma, it's likely one of the former. If you're looking for a place it's likely to land, probability seems to favour Canada - consider these craters and how many are in the GWN
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Talk about waiting till the last minute.
The asteroid was discovered two days ago on the 25th, and its closest approach occurs today. Not much time there to get the shuttle back from the Smithsonian, haul it down to Florida, refit it with all the stuff they took out, and launch Bruce Willis to destroy the asteroid. Good thing it's not a larger asteroid on an actual collision course. (Yeah, I know, the shuttle isn't actually at the Smithsonian yet)
Better known as 318230.
Dude, wrong social network.
I suppose the Mayans had it right all along. It's the end of the world!
Let's go to the basement! Whoops, we already are :).
The issue is we can only tell when one is about a day out. Many times we can only see them as they are leaving, not aproaching. It is actually a fairly common occorance. You can see them at http://www.spaceweather.com/. Since the begniing of the year there have been 5 that have come close enough to actually be of note.
According to the chart, it has a relative velocity of roughly 10km/s Assuming it's a little less dense than iron, (7g/cm^3), that should work out to something like 250 Tj of kinetic energy, or around a 56 kiloton warhead. If it actually kept most of that energy though the atmosphere (ie didn't break up), it would only be dangerous to populated parts of the world. It would make a nice bang, but not a climate changing one.
It has a ceramic shell with a Uranium core, the perfect weapon.
Are we sure it is an asteroid and not a scout raptor from Galactica? :P
at 11 meters? no it certainly would not be 'interesting times'. It would be a cool fire show. If some is really unlcuck, it might how a city. While bad for the the city, certainly nothing for anyone else.
It would weight, what 50,000 tons?(approx) a 747 has a min. operational weight of around 40,000 tons. Up to 9It could weight about the same as a 747. It would be travelling at 40K. It would be nothing like the craters you link to. Awesome link, btw.
Add tio that it would probably break up into at least two large pieces.
also, the earth is covered in craters, most of them have grown over, or are underwater.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
You might not find it interesting, but I do.
Just because it isn't software or hardware doesn't mean it isn't fitting for a nerd-news site. It's appropriately listed under Science and is a very interesting event. A small (seriously, 11 metres) object coming very close to Earth poses an interesting test of our local space awareness. If we can detect these things sooner and more accurately this is exactly the sort of thing that would be a candidate for capture once we have a proper space presence.
I understand your point, and they are ones with bring up; however I think a general bubble in society about common natural events helps keep people interested. another grain of sand on the 'We must keep a better eye in the sky' pile.
Because I can say, without hyperbole, that we can be rendered extinct by a large rock from space. So the sooner we find them, the better are chance at diverting it.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
or is it 11 metres wide...
don't get me wrong. I do find it interesting. I follow these kind of things out of personal interest on a regular basis. That's precisely why I can't say that there is nothing of significant interest with this particular event.
It is interesting. But not newsworthy (at least, in my opinion), at least not this particular event.
Just because it has called out a single dimension does not say much about its size.
Is it 11 meters wide 300 meters long and 1k in depth? Is it spherical? If not then 11 meters wide means not much of anything.
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
At that size, the asteroid would pose no danger even if it hit the Earth's atmosphere
A nonsensical statement. That just depends on its trajectory.
Generally, if they cite only one dimension, they're citing the *largest* dimension. So you know it's at most 11 x 11 x 11.
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
Apple shipped 15.4 million iPads worldwide in the 4th quarter. 200k xoom tablets is nothing.
AT&T had 7.6 million iPhone activations in the 4th quarter. That's only one carrier in one country. 5 million Android phones world-wide is nothing in comparison.
Seriously, we need to find a small asteroid that comes into orbit and land a small automated craft on it. This would give us practice for doing the real thing with ppl. In addition, if we find a large enough asteroid in our orbit, lets land ppl on it. We had one earlier that was ideal for doing it.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis
APK
P.S.=> Perhaps THIS is a better overall read:
Apophis: The Asteroid That Could Smash Into the Earth on April 13th, 2036:
http://www.deepastronomy.com/apophis-asteroid-could-hit-earth.html
... apk
I was just being an ass. :)
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
Ah, well, carry on then.