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Coffee House => Coffee House Boards => CH / Science and Technology => Topic started by: JaXanim on March 08, 2008, 07:49:24 PM

Title: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: JaXanim on March 08, 2008, 07:49:24 PM
Tonight (Saturday 8 March 2008) a newly discovered asteroid, about 50 feet in diameter, will pass within 100,000 miles of Earth. That's less than half the distance to the Moon, so pretty close. Full details here:Space Weather (http://www.spaceweather.com/)

JaX
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: motorollin on March 08, 2008, 08:20:36 PM
Is 50 feet big for an asteroid? Would that cause any damage if it hit Earth?

--
moto
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: bloodline on March 08, 2008, 08:26:05 PM
It would probablty only be the size of a RangeRover by the time it got to the surface... which if it hit London between 8:30 and 9:00 am would probably kill quite a few school children.
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: motorollin on March 08, 2008, 08:36:59 PM
Would the children have less chance of survival if the meteor were fitted with bull-bars?

--
moto
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: bloodline on March 08, 2008, 08:39:44 PM
Quote

motorollin wrote:
Would the children have less chance of survival if the meteor were fitted with bull-bars?

--
moto


Statically speaking, yes!
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: blobrana on March 08, 2008, 08:59:47 PM
The near earth asteroid (NEO) 8E4BDB1 is predicted to make a close flyby of the Earth; passing at a distance  of only 0.00108 AU (about 0.6 LD),  at about 9:04 UT on Sunday, 9 March.
The NEO will reach magnitude 12.6 and be observable from Europe and the Americas.

H=26.7
8E4BDB1 = 2008 EZ7
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: bloodline on March 08, 2008, 09:02:54 PM
Quote

blobrana wrote:
The near earth asteroid (NEO) 8E4BDB1 is predicted to make a close flyby of the Earth; passing at a distance  of only 0.00108 AU (about 0.6 LD),  at about 9:04 UT on Sunday, 9 March.
The NEO will reach magnitude 12.6 and be observable from Europe and the Americas.

H=26.7
8E4BDB1 = 2008 EZ7



I'm willing to bet that what Blobzie just said means something to someone... somewhere :-D
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: Speelgoedmannetje on March 08, 2008, 09:13:05 PM
They use hexadecimal numbers for asteroids?
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: blobrana on March 08, 2008, 09:41:38 PM
Just another  name for the Near Earth  Object (NEO)

BTW,
LD = Lunar Distance
AU = Astronomical Units
Magnitude = the brightness
H = the apparent brightness (from it you can guess the size of the rock)

Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: bloodline on March 08, 2008, 09:47:54 PM
Quote

blobrana wrote:
Just another  name for the Near Earth  Object (NEO)

BTW,
LD = Lunar Distance
AU = Astronomical Units
Magnitude = the brightness
H = the apparent brightness (from it you can guess the size of the rock)



Post successfully decoded now, thanks! :-)
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: motorollin on March 09, 2008, 01:59:01 PM
Quote
Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
They use hexadecimal numbers for asteroids?

Space is quite big. They probably ran out of numbers ;-)

--
moto
Title: There is Another
Post by: blobrana on March 09, 2008, 02:42:12 PM
Hum,
Another NEO provisionally named BJ19377, that has a similar orbit to NEO 8E4BDB1 is to make a close flyby of the Earth.
The two objects have such similar orbits that astronomers suspect that they may be the remnants of  a larger object  that broke up.

[size=9]2008 March 09,  13 UT: Position(2000):  R.A. = 08 35 20.1, Dec. = -03 18 22, V = 14.6[/size]
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: JaXanim on March 10, 2008, 03:22:14 PM
Quote

motorollin wrote:
Is 50 feet big for an asteroid? Would that cause any damage if it hit Earth?
--
moto


It's tiny, too small to reach the surface. Anything this small hitting the atmospere at 20-50,000 mph would evaporate as a meteoric fireball.

jaX
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: KThunder on March 13, 2008, 01:31:55 PM
this thread isnt about a girl you are close to?

sorry miss
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: blobrana on March 14, 2008, 05:20:39 PM

Ohh noo misses, mustn't titter...
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: Dandy on March 19, 2008, 12:01:28 PM
Quote

JaXanim wrote:
Quote

motorollin wrote:
Is 50 feet big for an asteroid? Would that cause any damage if it hit Earth?
--
moto


It's tiny, too small to reach the surface. Anything this small hitting the atmospere at 20-50,000 mph would evaporate as a meteoric fireball.

jaX


Hmmmm - 50 feet are about 16.6666 meters - there have been reports about smaller objects that reached the ground.

I can remember a report from some years ago, where an solid object smashed the luggage compartment of a car (in NY, IIRC).
The object had about the size of an tennis ball when they found it. IIRC, it was mentioned that the initial size was about one meter in diameter.

So I think the composition and speed of the object matter as well...
Title: Re: Another 'Near Miss'!
Post by: JaXanim on March 20, 2008, 12:26:59 PM
Quote

Dandy wrote:
Hmmmm - 50 feet are about 16.6666 meters - there have been reports about smaller objects that reached the ground.

I can remember a report from some years ago, where an solid object smashed the luggage compartment of a car (in NY, IIRC).
The object had about the size of an tennis ball when they found it. IIRC, it was mentioned that the initial size was about one meter in diameter.

So I think the composition and speed of the object matter as well...


Statistically, a 50 foot asteroid would disintergrate before reaching the ground. Almost 80% of asteroids are carbonaceous, which have little resistance to the riggors of  re-entry (if you see what I mean). However, a small proportion (less than 10%) are metallic bodies, which do have a better survival rate and may land on the Earth as meteorites. Most meteorites we find are silicaceous (rocky), which account for around 15% of asteroids. The approach speed of asteroids is typically 20,000 mph or more, so speed isn't really a variable in the equation. The objects we find on Earth are of course a small fraction of their original size.

JaX