4 asteroids "discovered" and passed earth closer then Tu24 within the past WEEK!

reply to post by Sleuth


Well said Sleuth. It's not something we should be overly worried about in our every day lives, but I do think we need to be aware that there is a long term risk of something catastrophic happening in the future. This is something that should be taken seriously and researched, but the chances of something happening in the immediate future are relatively low.

We have to remember that it's a threat we have been living with for millennia, and despite this we are still here, but at the same time, on any given day we have a chance of "winning the lottery".

reply to post by NGC2736


Agreed - it's certainly a question that's worth further study. We know the upper atmosphere plays a role in the Earth's climate, which we all depend on, so it can't hurt to look into what might affect us.

I am not sure the actual number of events have increased vs the amount of media coverage they get. New can travel much further and faster now.

What is really interesting about these discoveries is the path. They follow the same general path. Which mean there is a source somewhere. Whether something broke into smaller pieces and turned into what we see now, which means there could be more. Or if something nudged them.

Originally posted by Shadow_Lord
What is really interesting about these discoveries is the path. They follow the same general path. Which mean there is a source somewhere. Whether something broke into smaller pieces and turned into what we see now, which means there could be more. Or if something nudged them.

It's a good point, and although the occasional object does have an unusual orbit (implying a random nudge), the majority have similar orbits which does point to the break up of a much larger parent object. There are a few "groups" that are known about, all sharing similar orbits, much like the Taurids example I gave earlier.

Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid's potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth. Specifically, all asteroids with an Earth Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (MOID) of 0.05 AU or less and an absolute magnitude (H) of 22.0 or less are considered PHAs.

In other words, asteroids that can't get any closer to the Earth (i.e. MOID) than 0.05 AU (roughly 7,480,000 km or 4,650,000 mi) or are smaller than about 150 m (500 ft) in diameter (i.e. H = 22.0 with assumed albedo of 13%) are not considered PHAs.

There are currently 944 known PHAs.

neo.jpl.nasa.gov...

Refer to the following chart:

Only those close approaches within 0.1 AU occurring within 30 days from 2008-Mar-14 UT are included

neo.jpl.nasa.gov... &from=41

I just want to know if there is a limit to what this "area" can take before we on the surface notice something.

One thing I noticed was that NOAH radio no longer runs the “emergency test” weekly. When I researched for the reason it appears as though a satellite is out and will not be back in service. In reading further I discovered that the satellite they were using was a backup satellite to replace the original that was out and not being replaced. What I think is odd is that no explanation was given for the outage nor for the reason they will not be replacing them. They have one satellite, I believe it is the GOES 12 which is still operational. So if someone in ATS world knows, kindly advise.

Also, there was a G1 (geomagnetic storm) on March 10 in addition to several earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, and severe storms (blizzards, tornados, etc.) during and near the time frame for close approaches.

I also think that earth weather follows space weather, which, IMO, makes sense.

We have to remember that it's a threat we have been living with for millennia

The difference is the increase in the number of threats over the last ten years. Some time ago I came across a chart, which I am looking for, that showed the increases over the years. If I find it, I will post the link.

So I dont get it.... If this was an asteriod that could pose a threat to the planet how is knowing about it going to help? Oh I see you want to know how much time you have before you die? If an asteriod big enough to cause major damage was discovered before it hit we dont have the technology to deter it and if you say oh yes we do then dont worry about it cuz its top secret and you wont even know that asteriod "almost" hit us.

I dont wanna sit here and count the days, hours and minutes till we all die it would be worse then death cuz after it hits im sure youll feel/hear nothing if im wrong and it does hit let me know that I was wrong

Originally posted by Siren
The difference is the increase in the number of threats over the last ten years. Some time ago I came across a chart, which I am looking for, that showed the increases over the years. If I find it, I will post the link.

No. The number of threats is the same as it was 10 years ago. It's just that we know of more of them than we did then.

There are plenty more PHOs that we don't know about, and that are not counted at this point in time, but they are still there, even though we don't know about them. In another 10 years, we will probably know about somewhere around 1500-2000 known PHOs (just a guess). They are all there now, but because no one has seen them, the number is a little under 1000.

Originally posted by Siren

Refer to the following chart:

Only those close approaches within 0.1 AU occurring within 30 days from 2008-Mar-14 UT are included

And?

There's only 61 NEO approaches within 0.1 AU in those 30 days. (Note - those are not all PHOs, although some might be, I didn't check) Big deal! We live in a "cosmic shooting gallery". Get used to it

BTW - your link to that chart is broken.

[edit on 14-3-2008 by C.H.U.D.]

[edit on 14-3-2008 by C.H.U.D.]

[edit on 14-3-2008 by C.H.U.D.]

Originally posted by Siren
I don’t know which is worse the coronal hole or the number of asteroids floating by us.

I should also point out that worrying about a coronal hole is a bit like worrying about a rainbow.

Assuming you meant "coronal mass ejection", even those are nothing to worry about. Perhaps a relatively powerful X class solar flare might be a worry to a satellite operator or astronaut, but here on ground level we are protected from the worst effects by the magnetosphere.

Get a grip Siren!

[edit on 14-3-2008 by C.H.U.D.]

reply to post by C.H.U.D.


You sound angry. What I posted was the info I found.

The term coronal hole is correct.

Why don't you get a grip on yourself.

I am having trouble with my computer and posting, is someone here afraid of the truth?

reply to post by Siren


I'm not angry with you Siren. I just don't want people to come away with the wrong idea - that something is more dangerous than it actually is. As they say "a little info is a dangerous thing".

Where did you get the idea that a coronal hole is dangerous? Can you provide an example where someone has been hurt by one?

As for getting a grip on myself, I'm not the one saying the "the sky is falling in"!

Just to demonstrate how large the area that 0.1 AU represents in comparison with our tiny planet, I've done a little calculation (perhaps someone could check it over to make sure I didn't make any mistakes, as I'm not so good at maths!):

0.1 AU = 15,000000 km

Mean radius of Earth = 6371 km

area of a circle = πr2


2D area of Earth = π x (6371 x 6371) = 127516118 km square


2D area of circle of radius 0.1 AU = π x(15,000000 x 15,000000) = 706858347057703 km square


% of area of circle of radius 0.1 AU taken up by Earth = 127516118/(706858347057703/100) = 0.0000018039840 %


To give you some perspective, if Earth was the represented by the area of a pin head (lets say 1mm square), then 0.1 AU would be represented by 554m squared, or about half the area of a city block!

Here are a few newbies:

Asteroid 2008 ED85
"discovered" 3/13, closest point to earth 3/14
Distance from earth=0.0044=409,005 miles
Link to NASA JPL orbital diagram for 2008 ED85


Asteroid 2008 EK85
"discovered" 3/14, closest point to earth 3/14
Distance from earth=0.011AU=1,022,515 miles +/-
Link to NASA JPL orbital diagram for 2008 EK85


Asteroid 2008 EV84
"discovered" 3/11, closest point to earth 3/14
Distance from earth=0.026AU=2,416,853 miles +/-
Link to NASA JPL orbital diagram for EV84


That's it for now. Thanks for reading.