meteor

[megaflus]

A guy from school said that a meteor would hit or pass close by earth "tomorrow "! I haven't heard anything on TV or radio and nothing on this forum so I wonder if anybody know anything about this, is it true?

[Big War Bird]

Yes, well not exactly.

There will be anasteroid that will come kinda close.

Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have obtained the first images of asteroid 2007 TU24 using high-resolution radar data. The data indicate the asteroid is somewhat asymmetrical in shape, with a diameter roughly 800 feet (250 meters) in size. Asteroid 2007 TU24 will pass within 1.4 lunar distances, or 334,000 miles (538,000 kilometers), of Earth on January 29 at 12:33 a.m. Pacific time (3:33 a.m. Eastern time).

"With these first radar observations finished, we can guarantee that next week's 1.4-lunar-distance approach is the closest until at least the end of the next century," says Steve Ostro, JPL astronomer and principal investigator for the project. "It is also the asteroid's closest Earth approach for more than 2,000 years."

Scientists at NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL have determined that there is no possibility of an impact with Earth in the foreseeable future.

Asteroid 2007 TU24 was discovered by the NASA-sponsored Catalina Sky Survey on October 11, 2007. The first radar detection of the asteroid was acquired on January 23 using the Goldstone 230-foot (70-meter) antenna. The Goldstone antenna is part of NASA's Deep Space Network Goldstone station in Southern California's Mojave Desert. Goldstone's 230-foot (70-meter diameter) antenna is capable of tracking a spacecraft traveling more than 10 billion miles (16 billion kilometers) from Earth. The surface of the 230-foot reflector must remain accurate within a fraction of the signal wavelength, meaning that the precision across the 41,400-square-foot (3,850-square-meter) surface is maintained within 0.4 inch (1 centimeter).

Ostro and his team plan further radar observations of asteroid 2007 TU24 using the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico on January 27-28 and February 1-4.

The asteroid will reach an approximate apparent magnitude 10.3 on January 29-30 before quickly becoming fainter as it moves farther from Earth. On that night, the asteroid will be observable in dark and clear skies through amateur telescopes with apertures of at least 3 inches (7.6 centimeters). An object with a magnitude of 10.3 is about 50 times fainter than an object just visible to the naked eye in a clear, dark sky.

NASA detects and tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth. The Near Earth Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," discovers, characterizes and computes trajectories for these objects to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet.

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=6527

[Medicus]

Ha! The moon will be closer to us than that 1/4 kilometre (yay metric system) rock!

[Thanatos]

If it hits, we all die.

If not, we all die.

Whoop-dee-doo.

[The Sundance Kid]

How d'ya figure, sports fan?

If it doesnt hit, yes, we die eventually, but not so soon...we have time to spare. The glass is always half full....

Well, actually that depends on what is in the glass. Is it gravel? Prawns? Is it blood? Is the glass used in a sacrificial context? (Cookie for whoever names the source)

[Spurius]

Bill Bailey.

[TwoScoopsOfViking]

I was doing PT (physical training) with my unit at around 0600 GMT -6 on the 29th, we all saw a meteor enter orbit and burn up in the western sky


edit: Nasa has also found an asteroid (a NEO, near earth object), which will pass through our orbit on April 13, 2029. Supposedly, it will pass so close, that it will be between Earth itself, and our communication sattelites.