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Coffee House => Coffee House Boards => CH / Science and Technology => Topic started by: blobrana on February 24, 2004, 10:18:37 PM
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Astronomers came within minutes of alerting the world to a potential asteroid strike last month.
On 13 January a 30m object, 2004 AS1, was predicted to have a one-in-four chance of hitting the planet within 36 hours.
It could have caused local devastation and the researchers contemplated a call to the President before new data finally showed there was no danger.
The procedures for raising the alarm in such circumstances are now being revised.
At the time, the president's team would have been putting the final touches to a speech he was due to make the following day at the headquarters of Nasa.
In it he planned to reset the course of manned spaceflight, sending it back to the Moon and on to Mars, but he could have had something very different to say.
At about 30m wide, the asteroid was big enough to cause considerable damage after exploding in the atmosphere.
As it was 2004 AS1 turned out to be bigger than anyone had thought - about 500m wide, and It sailed passed the Earth at a distance of about 12 million km (32 times the Earth-Moon distance).
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db?name=2004+AS1 (http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db?name=2004+AS1)
[Next!]
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Apparently this happens all the time, at least as many times as blobrana changes avatar. ;-)
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Though I like her avatars :-)
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Hum,
This one still to be finished off...
( i think i`ll keep it for when i`m in a killing mood...)
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i wish the next asteroid that comes by just hit Bush right between the eyes.
pretty please!
:lol: :lol:
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Hum,
That would be classed as a `meteoright`...
Asteroids are generally bigger, but better to be safe than sorry...
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/images/hp_promos/large/asteroid_impact.jpg)
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cecilia wrote:
i wish the next asteroid that comes by just hit Bush right between the eyes.
pretty please!
:lol: :lol:
I know a person who can do such a thing in a more artificial way.
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@ blobrana
Actually I think that would be called a meteorleft.
Chris
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:-)
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The Newly-discovered asteroid http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db?name=2004+FH 2004 FH is going to have a close encounter with our planet (Mar. 18th, 22:08 GMT). It will come 43,000 km from the Earth's surface! That just slightly higher than most geosynchronous satellites , that orbit at an altitude of 35,800 km...
2004 FH's point of closest approach with the Earth will be over the South Atlantic Ocean.
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news142.html [full story]
Earth's gravity will bend the trajectory of asteroid 2004 FH by about 15 degrees during the fly-by.
2004 FH measures ~30 meters across, or about the size of a house. Although it's small, 2004 FH will be visible through backyard telescopes, glowing like a 10th to 12th magnitude star as it zips past the Earth... (er, hopefully)
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Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
cecilia wrote:
i wish the next asteroid that comes by just hit Bush right between the eyes.
pretty please!
:lol: :lol:
I know a person who can do such a thing in a more artificial way.
yeah, but then it wouldn't be an "Act of God"!
:lol: :roflmao: :laughing:
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Gosh, I remember the hysteria surrounding the death of Pim Fortuyn (hm, try not to make this thread moved to the politic ch)
Mass hysteria, in the Netherlands, I thought ppl here were far too decadent or clear minded to care about such. They should take a long vacation in Colombia :lol:
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Wow, that was close!
Hum, i wounder if we could have boosted a satellite to a higher orbit to rendezvous with it?
Anyway astronomers are continuing to observe the asteroid, 2004 FH, which is expected to be beyond the moon's orbit by early Friday.
It won't come fairly close to Earth again until 2044, when it pass within 930,000 miles.
[2004 FH was found by the Linear sky survey based in New Mexico]