Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: karajorma on February 08, 2013, 05:48:47 am
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http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130207-asteroid-flyby-earth-space-science/
Talk about too close for comfort. In a rare cosmic encounter, an asteroid will barnstorm Earth next week, missing our planet by a mere 17,200 miles (27,700 kilometers).
Designated 2012 DA14, the space rock is approximately 150 feet (45 meters) across, and astronomers are certain it will zip harmlessly past our planet on February 15—but not before making history. It will pass within the orbits of many communications satellites, making it the closest flyby on record.
"This is indeed a remarkably close approach for an asteroid this size," said Paul Chodas, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Near Earth Object (NEO) program office in Pasadena, California.
"We estimate that an asteroid of this size passes this close to the Earth only once every few decades."
The giant rock—half a football field wide—was first spotted by observers at the La Sagra Observatory in southern Spain a year ago, soon after it had just finished making a much more distant pass of the Earth at 2.6 million miles (4.3 million kilometers) away.
This time around however, on February15 at 2:24 pm EST, the asteroid will be passing uncomfortably close—ten times closer than the orbit of the moon—flying over the eastern Indian Ocean near Sumatra.
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making it the closest flyby on record.
"We estimate that an asteroid of this size passes this close to the Earth only once every few decades."
:wtf:
2012 is a few months ago, but Mayans didn't have daylight savings time........It all adds up :shaking:
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:wtf:
2012 is a few months ago, but Mayans didn't have daylight savings time........It all adds up :shaking:
Nor leap years.......... :nervous:
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:wtf:
2012 is a few months ago, but Mayans didn't have daylight savings time........It all adds up :shaking:
Nor leap years.......... :nervous:
No, but the people who translated the Mayan calendar date to the Gregorian date already took those into account. :blah:
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:wtf:
2012 is a few months ago, but Mayans didn't have daylight savings time........It all adds up :shaking:
Nor leap years.......... :nervous:
No, but the people who translated the Mayan calendar date to the Gregorian date already took those into account. :blah:
Maybe their math was wrong! We're all doomed! DOOMED! DOOOOOOOOOM
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Is it going to be visible from the ground?
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Is it going to be visible from the ground?
I heard it would be just barely.... in Indonesia.
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Is it going to be visible from the ground?
It's visual magnitude on Feb 15 is estimated at some 7.5. So no, you won't be able to see it with the naked eye, but it will be visible in good binoculars / small telescopes (and upwards).
Check here (under "Asteroid 2012 DA14 flyby") for where to look: http://heavens-above.com/?lat=45.800&lng=16.000&loc=Zagreb&alt=131&tz=CET
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making it the closest flyby on record.
It is not the closest flyby on record. It is the closest flyby for an object of this size.
Is it going to be visible from the ground?
Yes, but it will require a telescope. I think it's supposed to get up to about 8th magnitude at closest approach. That's about as bright as Saturn's moon Titan. So if you can spot Titan, you can theoretically spot the asteroid.
However it will be moving really fast across the sky, about a degree per minute, making it a difficult target to track. The best bet is to check the ephemeris, find a bright star that it will pass very close to, and watch the FOV closely as it's due to pass. If weather permits I might give it a try.
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I have a telescope but this one is more of a binocular object, as it'll be difficult to track with my manual equatorial mount. So, my trusty 10x50 bins will be the instrument of choice. Just need to get under some dark skies. Anyone with a decent pair of binoculars can give this a try, a telescope isn't a must for an object of this magnitude and it'll be easier to track with hand held bins.
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Dang, now that I've plugged the orbit in AstroPlanner I realize just how rapidly its magnitude drops after the pass. I was hoping it'd stay at least as bright as 10th magnitude by the time it got dark in the United States, but it's actually at 12th. Too faint to see from my home.
Interestingly its orbit takes it from a declination of -80° to +80°. That's one hell of a shift.
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:wtf:
2012 is a few months ago, but Mayans didn't have daylight savings time........It all adds up :shaking:
Nor leap years.......... :nervous:
No, but the people who translated the Mayan calendar date to the Gregorian date already took those into account. :blah:
Maybe their math was wrong! We're all doomed! DOOMED! DOOOOOOOOOM
(http://www.hard-light.net/forums/Smileys/HLP/warpsmile.gif)
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lolz aside, wish I was in a part of the world where I would have a realistic chance of seeing it
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BREAKING: Huge Meteor Blazes Across Sky Over Russia; Sonic Boom Shatters Windows (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/15/breaking_huge_meteor_explodes_over_russia.html)
This is almost certainly unrelated to the asteroid that's making its close approach today, but still, holy crap. This is without a doubt the most incredible meteor ever documented in the digital age, and there is a lot of footage of it. The sonic boom from its atmospheric entry did some localized damage and apparently some people were injured by windows blowing out. Good thing it wasn't any larger or this would have been a very bad day for those folk.
This video of it coming in is a must see (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZxXYscmgRg)
The shockwave's arrival [LOUD] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b7mLUIDGqmw)
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The sheep look up.
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Heh. The best part about those two videos: GIANT METEORITE leaves trail of fire and smoke and literally explodes, and drivers just keep driving, pedestrians just keep pedestring like this sort of thing happens every day.
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Circumspect actions speak louder than OMGGIANTROCK!
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Heh. The best part about those two videos: GIANT METEORITE leaves trail of fire and smoke and literally explodes, and drivers just keep driving, pedestrians just keep pedestring like this sort of thing happens every day.
It's Russia, their previous one was barely 105 years ago :P
On the original topic - 2012 DA14 just passed by, I just happened to have the TV turned on and saw it live :)
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(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g1KhnMjhVEI/UR68d0-_suI/AAAAAAAAE6E/au8Cn_DIGJs/s499/47820_338153022968875_563855474_n.jpg)
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that is too brilliant for words.
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It's a good thing that the meteor came in at such a shallow angle. If it had come straight down it probably would have broken up just above the earth's surface. In that event, Chelyabinsk could have looked more like the Tunguska event of 1908. They're saying that there's currently no way to track objects in the 5 to 15m size that they expect this one was, especially on the sun-side. The only way I could see the Earth having any advanced warning about such an object would be to set up a massive network of out-facing radar detectors in interlocking orbits, at appropriately astronomical cost. Even then, the best it could do would be to give perhaps a few hours warning (depending on the altitude the satellites orbit at) to get the hell away from the projected impact area.
In all this, there's also some unconfirmed reports that another bright meteor was detected above the California Bay area Friday night. LINK (http://www.space.com/19836-meteor-california-bay-area.html)
And yes, awesome pic Zacam. :yes:
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So one meteor comes down in Russia, another potentially streaks over the US. If this had happened 30 years ago, it would have been almost certainly the work of a Bond villain trying to initiate WW3. :nervous:
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i wonder if anyone caught this with a proper camera. special effects my ass, we've got a REAL meteor in our movie!
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The Chelyabinsk meteor was absolutely crazy. When the story first broke I thought it was some ridiculous "viral" marketing crap, which says a lot about our wonderful society. It's also a pretty incredible coincidence, happening at a time so close to the asteroid pass.
Also, it's been mentioned...but what is up with the Russians in the videos? Most of them just keep on doing whatever they were doing, like, "Meh, meteor explosion and huge shockwave. No biggie." In a few of them, the secondary shockwaves from the smaller pieces (?) sounded like gunfire. Huge explosion-like sound, gunfire-like sounds. I'd probably run for the hills first and ask questions later.
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the first video i saw, the thought that went through my mind was "this guy is driving like a complete douche."
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This video of it coming in is a must see (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZxXYscmgRg)
For best results I replaced the audio with this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zSKhffaYig)
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Haha, I did like how in the first video the meteor's passage coincides with the radio switching to pumping techno. :D
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since the two threads that were actually started about the russian meteor were killed, maybe we can split out from this thread that is about something else (and has NO indication in the title)?
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Also, it's been mentioned...but what is up with the Russians in the videos? Most of them just keep on doing whatever they were doing, like, "Meh, meteor explosion and huge shockwave. No biggie." In a few of them, the secondary shockwaves from the smaller pieces (?) sounded like gunfire. Huge explosion-like sound, gunfire-like sounds. I'd probably run for the hills first and ask questions later.
Russians: "Please. Compared to Tunguska, this is nothing."
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So one meteor comes down in Russia, another potentially streaks over the US. If this had happened 30 years ago, it would have been almost certainly the work of a Bond villain trying to initiate WW3. :nervous:
Meteors raining from the sky
asteroids grazing closely by
and great comets, too, oh my
look to the skies, can you see the signs?
The end times are nigh, we're all gonna die!
/me runs and hides lest he write more stupid rhymes... AGHHHH
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since the two threads that were actually started about the russian meteor were killed, maybe we can split out from this thread that is about something else (and has NO indication in the title)?
Happy Now? :p
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i'm not unhappy [/sheldon cooper]
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Can we shoot Michael Bay at Russian asteroids?
Yes, but we need a backup plan in case Michael Bay is insufficient to scare away the asteroids. I propose we shoot M. Night Shyamalan at them next.
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Then we'd risk a surprise plot twist.
Uwe Boll would be a better bet. The asteroids would begin to avoid us.
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Oh Director humour
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Sometimes I'd use a "Like" button on HLP...
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Sometimes I'd use a "Like" button on HLP...
:yes: :like:
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The truth about the meteor:
(http://www.golfvictorspotting.it/roba_gvs/lucy_meteor.jpg)
Looks like we'll need Alpha 1's help!
(yes, I know Lucy's "planetary bombardment beams" are canonically blue :p )
(BTW... hi everybody, I know it's a long time since I have last posted here, but Real LifeTM is a b*tch... I posted that pic on Facebook and Mobius asked me to post it here too)
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:like: :yes:
Y I No see it on Fb?
Add me !!1
facebook.com/dobbsylondon
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I may have stolen that and posted it on facebook myself...
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lol
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teh is volition cannon