Asteroid buzzed Earth this weekend, hours after discovered

[Panich52]

Asteroid buzzed Earth this weekend, hours after discovery
Nov 15, 2015
by Eddie Irizarry in Blogs

A small space rock discovered yesterday (November 14) passed very close to Earth just hours after first being detected. Asteroid 2015 VY105 was moving at a speed of more than 39,000 miles per hour (62,000 km/h) when it passed over the Pacific Ocean on November 15, 2015 at 02:47 UTC (4:47 p.m. CST on November 14). At closest approach, it was just 21,000 miles (34,000 km) from Earth. That’s close, closer than weather and television satellites as well as other geostationary satellites, which orbit our planet at some 36,000 km (22,300 miles) above its surface.

The Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona was the first to observe asteroid 2015 VY105. The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced its discovery. According to the Minor Planet Center, the space rock is an Apollo type, a class of asteroid that sometimes intercept Earth’s orbit.

Asteroid 2015 VY105 appears to range in size some 10 to 30 feet (3 to 9 meters).

Was Earth threatened? No. This was a very small asteroid, and if it had entered our atmosphere, most of it would have disintegrated due to air friction, causing quite an impressive meteor.

More
http://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-2015-vy105-buzzed-earth-this-weekend-hours-after-discovery?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=0e426be346-EarthSky_News&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-0e426be346-393525109

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

1. One day the headline will be: "Asteroid Hits Earth, Scientists Didn't See It Coming"

subhead: "Neil deGrasse Tyson Claims Celestial Body Was Not an Asteroid"

Astronomical know-it-all Neil deGrasse Tyson said that the body which wiped Phoenix off the face of the earth during a Cardinals-Bengals game was technically not an asteroid, but actually a meteroid.

The "Cosmos" superstar said, "If there's one thing I know how to do, it's downgrading the categorization of a space object. Look at the job I did to Pluto!"

Tyson was unable to continue his remarks as a group of pissed-off Arizonans shoved him head-first into a 24-inch Cassegrain telescope.

"Actually, it's a Newtonian telescope," Tyson was heard to say just before he was stuffed in the tube.

[FiveGoodMen]

2. Certainly sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder regarding NDT!

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

3. I absolutely L-O-V-E Neil deGrasse Tyson

I think he and Bill Nye are leading the charge against no-nothing anti-science Neanderthals.

I was just spoofing the fact that despite all our technological expertise we still find ourselves detecting space rocks -- some of a significant size, and some passing within the ring of geostationary satellites 26,199 miles away -- either a day or two before they pass or just as they go by.

When we do get hit by a significant rock, I'll bet NdT will be the first person the networks will turn to for analysis. And he'll do a great job!

(Stuffing him into a telescope is a throwback to those fond memories of being a nerd stuffed into lockers in high school.)


Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse

[FiveGoodMen]

4. Ah, got it.

Glad I asked.

[Matthew28]

5. Time to spend a lot more

Time to spend a lot more on space telescopes and the ability to deal with asteroids. These rocks are as big as a threat as any terrorism could ever be.

Worth every cent.