Asteroid 1998 QE2 - 1.7 Miles Long Will Come VERY Close to Earth at 0.008 AU! Could Earth Realize An

Originally posted by curiouswa
reply to post by Nyiah

 

Whoops, I was referencing the other asteroid. My mistake. This one is still one to watch as I said, the Russian asteroid was calculated at 0.07 AU's away.

Why did you brush off CLPrime's clarification of something you don't understand? The Russian one was not 0.07 AUs away, it was a margin of error for the calculation. Let me quote him for ease of reference.

Originally posted by CLPrime
reply to post by curiouswa

 

The Russian meteor was not calculated at 0.07 AU. It's semi-major axis was calculated at 1.55 +/- 0.07 AU. 1.55 AU was essentially its average distance from the Sun, and 0.07 is the error in that calculation.

Semi-major axis calculated at 1.55, PLUS or MINUS 0.07. That is a margin or error for 1.55 AU, not exactly how far it was.

Originally posted by Optix
How the hell do they know there is a sooty substance on it?

According to this they even know it is "sticky". You would need samples for that.

reply to post by curiouswa


For those of you that don't know (as I didn't), AU doesn't mean Australia.

Just googled this: 0.008 Astronomical Units = 1 196 782.97 kilometers

Now if you were to ask me why there are spaces instead of commas between the numbers, I have NO idea.

This body is also called a "minor planet" I read, today. (A small Planet X !) Well, the first thing that came to my mind, is what debris it might fling our way as it flies by.

reply to post by specialcategory


All asteroids are classified as minor planets, a rather broad classification that basically includes anything that's not a planet, a dwarf planet (like Pluto), or a comet.

1 Lunar distance (LD) is the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.
1 Astronomical Unit (AU) is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun.

If we talk in AU then the moon is approximately 0.0025 AU from the Earth.

So any object coming in to our area of the solar system at 0.008 AU is significantly further away from Earth than the moon so not too much to worry about (0.008 AU > 0.0025 AU).

If I've got any of my facts wrong, apologies in advance as it is Saturday evening here in the UK and I've had a few alcoholic units already (an altogether different AU!).

Big enough and scary enough to make me wish we had something to move it away just in case.

And we have a huge comet swinging by this summer.

Space has been busy lately.

reply to post by Berzerked


They can know what the surface is like through spectrometry. This isn't really advanced technology, we've been doing spectrometry in one form or another for over a hundred years. Basically, sunlight reflected off the surface of the asteroid bounces towards earth, and we record this light here through a telescope. After subtracting the spectrographic signature of the sun, there will be an additional signature that is unique to the materials on the asteroid's surface. (This is due to the nature of quantum mechanics. When various elements and molecules absorb light, the light they then re-emit will be at wavelengths specific to that element or molecule. Thus we can identify a substance based on the light it gives off)

Its nothing mysterious.

reply to post by poet1b


Moving it away for now could set it on a collision course for later.
Better to just relax and let the 1% chance pass than to exchange the 1% for a 100%.

new info here:
www.space.com... Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

So it's a binary asteroid with a little satellite orbiting around it? I keep thinking this would be a great way for an alien race to quietly approach a planet for invasion. How many ships could you conceal behind a 2 mile asteroid?

There is a big meteor being seen in Ohio and surrounding area. Don't have link as has not made news yet.

reply to post by Dianec


Ohio where? I'm from Northeastern Kentucky (bordered by OH and WV)

Originally posted by Dianec
There is a big meteor being seen in Ohio and surrounding area. Don't have link as has not made news yet.

Yes, and I am Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Second.

reply to post by curiouswa


wtf