Halloween Asteroid!

[Wisconsin Beth]

www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/10/21/asteroid_2015_tb145_another_space_rock_passes_safely.html

Around 17:00 UTC (13:00 Eastern US time) on Halloween, an asteroid called 2015 TB145 will pass relatively close—but still well away—from the Earth.

It’ll slip past our planet at a distance of about 470,000 kilometers, which is a bit farther away than the distance to the Moon. In fact, it’ll get closer to the Moon than it will to us, passing it at around 280,000 kilometers distant.

This is an interesting asteroid. It’s very roughly 500 meters across, so it’s pretty big as near-Earth asteroids get. It’s also on a very elongated orbit that takes it closer in to the Sun than Mercury, and about half the distance out to Jupiter. The orbit is also highly tilted; it’ll come at us from the south, cross Earth’s orbit, move up to the north for a while, and then back down again.
Phil Plait Phil Plait

This unusual orbit is why it was only discovered on Oct. 10! Most asteroids stick near the plane of Earth’s orbit. Worse, it’s coming from the south, and there are fewer observatories in the Southern Hemisphere scanning the skies to look for passing rocks. It was discovered in observations made by the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii.

For NASA, this asteroid is more treat than trick: It gets close enough that it can be tracked by the Goldstone radio telescope, which can send pulses of radio waves at the rock to accurately measure its size, shape, and trajectory. Observations are already being planned.

Again, I’ll note we’re in no danger from 2015 TB145. It misses us cleanly, and extrapolating its orbit forward into time, it won’t be back this way for at least a century.

[NoNamePerson]

Damn, and here I was hoping it would hit earth and things could start over from scratch  

[djAdvocate]

good to know that if one is headed for us, we might have only 12 days to prepare. 

[Tennesseer]

As long as it hits us before my monthly bills are due, I am okay with it.

[mmhmm]

Oct 22, 2015 8:42:23 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

good to know that if one is headed for us, we might have only 12 days to prepare. 

I'm not sure a year would do us much good. Unless they can blow the sucker out of the air, we're probably history anyway. Have a freaking party! I can put one together in no time flat! 

[NoNamePerson]

Oct 22, 2015 8:42:23 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

good to know that if one is headed for us, we might have only 12 days to prepare. 

It's not like a hurricane. I don't think you can evacuate      Ok, maybe you can get to Mars Will you be taking on passengers   I want to sit and watch it from afar if possible...


ETA: Where's Scottie when we need him  

[Tennesseer]

Oct 22, 2015 8:42:23 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

good to know that if one is headed for us, we might have only 12 days to prepare. 

Not much we could do about it if it was really big, DJ.

[djAdvocate]

oh you people.  such nihilists!!! 

[NoNamePerson]

Oct 22, 2015 9:17:52 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

oh you people.  such nihilists!!! 

I'm a somewhat dumb nilhilist!! I actually had to google to see what nasty name you were calling me   -faint-But that does help me meet my quota of learning something new every day  

[Wisconsin Beth]

Oct 22, 2015 9:27:12 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Oct 22, 2015 9:17:52 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

oh you people.  such nihilists!!! 

I'm a somewhat dumb nilhilist!! I actually had to google to see what nasty name you were calling me   -faint-But that does help me meet my quota of learning something new every day  

I am crushed that learning about a newly found asteroid doesn't help you meet your quota of learning something new everyday. 

[NoNamePerson]

Oct 22, 2015 9:30:41 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Oct 22, 2015 9:27:12 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

I'm a somewhat dumb nilhilist!! I actually had to google to see what nasty name you were calling me   -faint-But that does help me meet my quota of learning something new every day  

I am crushed that learning about a newly found asteroid doesn't help you meet your quota of learning something new everyday. 

 You are so right!! Thanks for reminding me. Now I have met my quota for two days so I have Friday off   

[Tennesseer]

Seeing this thread was about space and stuff all around, read this article today and what our eventually late, great planet can expect in the future.

Scientists Observe Dead Star Eating its Own Solar System For First Time

One day, the Sun will run out of fuel. When that happens, the life-giving star will morph into a destructive burning force, swallowing up the Earth and other nearby planets, before leaving behind an ultra-dense core, which sucks in the remains of the solar system.

In a study published on Thursday in the journal Nature, scientists reported that they had observed for the first time this process of a destroyed planetary system feeding a dead star, which they said provides a glimpse of the fate that will one day befall Earth.

The team of researchers, headed up by astronomer Andrew Vanderburg from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts, studied WD 1145+017, a white dwarf star residing in the Virgo constellation, which is around 571 light years away from Earth. The team found evidence of a rocky object orbiting the dead star, disintegrating as it went, because of the star's intense heat and gravitational pull.

"This is something no human has seen before," said Vanderburg in a statement. "We're watching a solar system get destroyed."

Complete article here.  Scientists Observe Dead Star Eating its Own Solar System For First Time

[wyouser]

Do I understand correctly that a direct hit by a big enough asteroid would finally end the debate on global warming?