T. McGrath Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 (edited) Quote Jumbo Jet-Size Asteroid 2010 WC9 Buzzes Earth Soon: See It Live Online Tonight An asteroid the size of a jumbo jet is about to buzz Earth, and you can learn all about the historic close encounter in a webcast this evening (May 14). The near-Earth asteroid 2010 WC9, which is thought to be between 125 feet and 390 feet (38 to 119 meters) wide, will get within 126,000 miles (203,000 kilometers) of Earth tomorrow evening (May 15) — about half the distance between our planet and the moon. It's rare for such a big space rock to get so close, astronomers have said. To mark the occasion, the astronomy broadcasting service Slooh will host a live webcast tonight at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT on May 15). You can also watch the webcast on Space.com, courtesy of Slooh. This is another case where we discovered the asteroid, then lost it for several years, only to find it again just a week ago. Which would seem to indicate that just because NASA may have discovered 98% of the NEOs larger than 1 km, it does not mean that they know where those NEOs are now. Of the 17,785 NEOs (as of March 1, 2018) that NASA has discovered, I would be very interested in knowing the percentage of NEOs that NASA has lost since their discovery. Edited May 14, 2018 by T. McGrath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beecee Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 10 hours ago, T. McGrath said: This is another case where we discovered the asteroid, then lost it for several years, only to find it again just a week ago. Which would seem to indicate that just because NASA may have discovered 98% of the NEOs larger than 1 km, it does not mean that they know where those NEOs are now. Of the 17,785 NEOs (as of March 1, 2018) that NASA has discovered, I would be very interested in knowing the percentage of NEOs that NASA has lost since their discovery. One wonders if there are any with our name on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T. McGrath Posted May 15, 2018 Author Share Posted May 15, 2018 23 minutes ago, beecee said: One wonders if there are any with our name on it. It has been suggested that we may experience a Tunguska-sized event every 300 years. Considering the NEOs that we have discovered, then lost, only to be rediscovered again just a few days to a few weeks before it passes Earth, I would have to say our mitigation choices are going to be rather limited. I think we should give up on the gravity tractor, solar sails, or any other long-term mitigation scheme and focus on what can be done in a matter of days - other than evacuating the effected area. Source:Earth in the Cosmic Shooting Gallery - The Observatory, Volume 125, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott of the Antares Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 There seems to be growing evidence for a serious comet or asteroid impact ~12,000 YBP that triggered the Younger Dryas anmolous period so these events are more common than we are aware of I would say. On 15/05/2018 at 7:40 AM, beecee said: One wonders if there are any with our name on it. I’d wager it is a question of when not if yikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimreepr Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Scott of the Antares said: I’d wager it is a question of when not if yikes! 1 Yep, but that's life; live for the if not the when. Yikes indeed, it's scary to let the future sort itself. Edited May 19, 2018 by dimreepr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott of the Antares Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 That’s life indeed! I wonder if we can meet the technological demands of mitigating a strike before said strike occurs. In the big picture, it casts a clear stark light on humans building armies for posturing whilst asteroid spotting/neutralising projects are short on resources. I imagine that leaders and citizens are dealing with a threat they have seen many times in their lifetimes and recent history (war), yet have never seen or heard about the devastion such an impact would cause for civilisation. Kind of like the old adage; out of sight, out of mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimreepr Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 2 hours ago, Scott of the Antares said: That’s life indeed! I wonder if we can meet the technological demands of mitigating a strike before said strike occurs. In the big picture, it casts a clear stark light on humans building armies for posturing whilst asteroid spotting/neutralising projects are short on resources. I imagine that leaders and citizens are dealing with a threat they have seen many times in their lifetimes and recent history (war), yet have never seen or heard about the devastion such an impact would cause for civilisation. Kind of like the old adage; out of sight, out of mind! 4 The one that kills us is probably out of site, otherwise out of mind is the go-to option since we can't mitigate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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