asteroid

[aarf]

AFP June 15, 2012 4:37AM
An asteroid the size of a city block discovered by astronomers in Canberra will zoom past
Earth but poses no risk of a collision.
The "unusually large" asteroid will not be visible to the naked eye, but asteroid enthusiasts may
watch it pass by during a live online broadcast, said Patrick Paolucci, president of the
skywatchers' site, Slooh.
NASA has already catalogued 9000 such Near-Earth Objects, but astronomers are always on the
lookout for new ones.
"Once in awhile one will come out of nowhere like this one, which is actually pretty big," Mr
Paolucci said.
"We were like, 'Wow, we should track this one'."
The asteroid, named 2012 LZ1, is thought to be about 500 metres wide, and is expected to pass
within 14 times the Moon's distance from the Earth.
The massive object was discovered just days ago by Scottish-Australian astronomer Rob
McNaught and colleagues at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the
Australian National University.
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The asteroid qualifies as a Near-Earth Object because of its size and proximity - more than 152
metres wide and within a distance of 7.5 million kilometres from Earth.
Mr Paolucci said the asteroid's fly-by would be covered in real-time with footage from an
observatory in the Canary Islands at Slooh.com beginning at 10am (AEST) today.

[sunburnt]

Just wait for Apophis in 2029, on Friday the 13th! But it`s probably safe.

Even though it will come inside the moon`s orbit and under our communication satellites!

But in 2036 it will be back on Friday the 13th again. But they can`t calculate where so well.

It`s well over a 1/4 mile wide. A planet killer by any definition.

[aarf]

hmm interesting indeed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

Mass 2.7 × 10^10 kg (assumed)
Orbital period 323.58 d (0.89 a )
Average orbital speed 30.728 km/ s

sure is a lot of knetic energy to be impacting even the moon.
wonder if we'll have a means to harvest even some of that energy by then


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater

Effects
The impact would have caused some of the largest megatsunamis
in Earth's history, reaching thousands of meters high. A cloud of
super-heated dust, ash and steam would have spread from the
crater, as the impactor burrowed underground in less than a
second. [24] Excavated material along with pieces of the impactor,
ejected out of the atmosphere by the blast, would have been
heated to incandescence upon re-entry, broiling the Earth's
surface and possibly igniting global wildfires; meanwhile, colossal
shock waves would have triggered global earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions . [25] The emission of dust and particles could
have covered the entire surface of the Earth for several years,
possibly a decade, creating a harsh environment for living things.
The shock production of carbon dioxide caused by the destruction
of carbonate rocks would have led to a sudden greenhouse
effect .[26] Over a longer period, sunlight would have been blocked
from reaching the surface of the earth by the dust particles in the
atmosphere, cooling the surface dramatically. Photosynthesis by
plants would also have been interrupted, affecting the entire food
chain .[27][28]

[RetroTechGuy]

Just wait for Apophis in 2029, on Friday the 13th! But it`s probably safe.

Even though it will come inside the moon`s orbit and under our communication satellites!

But in 2036 it will be back on Friday the 13th again. But they can`t calculate where so well.

It`s well over a 1/4 mile wide. A planet killer by any definition.

The worst part is, it's bad if it hits the dirt, it's even worse if it hits the ocean...

Hope you've got jam in your pockets, 'cuz we're toast!...

[Ted Dog]

I really hoped for a asteroid GAME .pet in a retro-game mood.

[RetroTechGuy]

I really hoped for a asteroid GAME .pet in a retro-game mood.

http://www.thepcmanwebsite.com/media/fl ... oids.shtml

[aarf]

seems like they are finding never before discovered asteroids that are possible near misses at a rate of 2 or 3 a year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torino_Scale

[aarf]

SCIENTISTS have captured the moment a giant
solar flare from a distant star scorched one of its
orbiting planets, blasting the upper atmosphere
away.
NASA's Swift Telescope detected a huge X-ray flare
from the star 63 light years from Earth and then the
Hubble recorded the pictures as it ripped into an
orbiting gas giant known as "HD 189733b".
While the planet managed to survive the experience,
scientists calculated it received three million times as
many X-rays as Earth receives during a solar flare.
At least 900 tonnes of gas was ejected from the
planet's atmosphere per second at a speed of more
than 482,803km/h.
If this had happened on Earth our atmosphere would have been destroyed,
leaving the planet a hardened husk of its former self, much like the planet
Mercury.
Scientists say the affected planet still has gas to spare but by orbiting to close to
its sun it risks being destroyed.

[nooby]

We live on a dangerous planet indeed. Haha how can one protect
from such big disasters? Either a big stone hit us or a solar flare
blowing our sky away leaving earth as bad as Mars is now.
No air to breath.

[aarf]

Rats! missed again.

THIS fiery streak in the sky amazed Perth beachgoers at sunset as a suspected meteor plunged into the
ocean off the WA coast.

[linuxbear]

Hope you've got jam in your pockets, 'cuz we're toast!...

It's a warning shot across our bow. We need to get all of the world's space agencies together and start slowly expanding out-there. Otherwise we risk extinction. All of our eggs are are in one little fish-bowl right now

[aarf]

Hope you've got jam in your pockets, 'cuz we're toast!...

It's a warning shot across our bow. We need to get all of the world's space agencies together and start slowly expanding out-there. Otherwise we risk extinction. All of our eggs are are in one little fish-bowl right now

look on the bright side, there wont be any mourners. no more torture of whales. probably the best of all we wont have to put up with the all the gobal warming propaganda any more. no doubt there will be some surviving microbes that think that the new environment is just absolutely magnificent:D
move over dinosaurs, here we come.

[aarf]

hmm 3500 plus posts. I've reached nirvana.

[gcmartin]

I really hoped for a asteroid GAME .pet in a retro-game mood.

http://www.thepcmanwebsite.com/media/fl ... oids.shtml

Can anyone PET this asteroid?

[gcmartin]

... We need to get all of the world's space agencies together and start slowly expanding out-there. ...

Yeah, this would mean we'd have to find a way to get along on the planet, first.

But, the greed factor is much to great for that to happen....unless us little people start a movement for massive change in attitude and operation.

Lets start with this community as we demonstrate how to work together for Puppy and hope it has the ability to get controlling powers to do the same.

We really do have the power to make an IMPACT.

[aarf]

... We need to get all of the world's space agencies together and start slowly expanding out-there. ...

Yeah, this would mean we'd have to find a way to get along on the planet, first.

But, the greed factor is much to great for that to happen....unless us little people start a movement for massive change in attitude and operation.

Lets start with this community as we demonstrate how to work together for Puppy and hope it has the ability to get controlling powers to do the same.

We really do have the power to make an IMPACT.

judging by how resources are allocated on earth the fastest way to get permanent residents on the moon or mars would be by competitively militarizing them. peace and cooperation hasnt been as sucessful in motivation as warfare and pillage, in the whole of human history so why would that need to change. i hear the chinese have discovered oil on the moon would work wonders if only it were possible. perhaps platinum or gold will do. maybe lithium or new age energy-battery pre-component minerals.

[gcmartin]

... militarizing ...

Mankind's existence does NOT depend of militarizing. Its the cooperative factors that has gotten us thus far.

We just need to enforce a greater degree of cooperative behavior.

Don't throw in the towel because we feel small...make a difference by spread the word (world) for cooperation.

We CAN make a difference. But, its going to take a collective to push the movement into the greater direction.

[Bruce B]

... militarizing ...

Mankind's existence does NOT depend of militarizing. Its the cooperative factors that has gotten us thus far.

We just need to enforce a greater degree of cooperative behavior.

If we don't use military to enforce cooperation, then what are some alternatives?

~

[jpeps]

... militarizing ...

Mankind's existence does NOT depend of militarizing. Its the cooperative factors that has gotten us thus far.

We just need to enforce a greater degree of cooperative behavior.

If we don't use military to enforce cooperation, then what are some alternatives?

~

I think "enforcement" is getting confused with "reinforcement." The military provides negative reinforcement by threatening harm if you don't "cooperate." That works only to a limited degree and can backfire. By far, positive reinforcement works much better....thus people "cooperate" because there's some personal advantage to doing so, such as feeling better about oneself.

[jason.b.c]

Rats! missed again.

THIS fiery streak in the sky amazed Perth beachgoers at sunset as a suspected meteor plunged into the
ocean off the WA coast.

is that a solar flare ?? , really???