Newfound Asteroid Buzzes Earth

[Stapler]

Not to be confused with the big asteroid that is currently passing outside the moon's orbit...

By Mike Wall | SPACE.com – Tue, Dec 11, 2012

"A newfound asteroid gave Earth a close shave early today, zipping between our planet and the moon just two days after astronomers first spotted it.

The near-Earth asteroid 2012 XE54, which was discovered Sunday (Dec. 9), came within 140,000 miles (230,000 kilometers) of our planet at about 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT) Tuesday (Dec. 11), researchers said. For comparison, the moon orbits Earth at an average distance of 240,000 miles or so (386,000 km).

Astronomers estimate that 2012 XE54 is about 120 feet (36 meters) wide — big enough to cause substantial damage if it slams into Earth someday. An object of similar size flattened 800 square miles (2,000 square km) of forest when it exploded above Siberia's Podkamennaya Tunguska River in 1908. ..."



Whatever happened to that Centaur guy that used to post all the cool space stuff...or was that only on the CBMB?

 

[Mr. Cub]

Damn! That's wicked.

 

[Tjodalv]

I'm pretty sure the astronomer dude was only on CBMB (and yeah, that guy was apparently a real astronomer). This really wasn't/isn't a big deal though, that's a tiny piece of rock in the grand scheme of things...and it likely would have touched down in the ocean anyway.

 

[Sunbiz1]

On a related topic, this was an interesting watch. The film is sped up by about 10, making thunderstorms look more like bombing raids:

[video=youtube;7CApsNjJuOI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CApsNjJuOI[/video]

 

[Stapler]

I'm pretty sure the astronomer dude was only on CBMB (and yeah, that guy was apparently a real astronomer). This really wasn't/isn't a big deal though, that's a tiny piece of rock in the grand scheme of things...and it likely would have touched down in the ocean anyway.

Dang it, I should have "favorite'd" his link. I think you're right, he was some kind of actual astronomer or a serious oficiondo at least.

I wonder what a rock that size would do if it hit/blew up over an ocean?

I'd be willing to bet that hitting water would be worse than land in terms of total lives lost, but I can't back that up with any paperwork.

 

[ShiftyDevil]

Dang it, I should have "favorite'd" his link. I think you're right, he was some kind of actual astronomer or a serious oficiondo at least.

I wonder what a rock that size would do if it hit/blew up over an ocean?

I'd be willing to bet that hitting water would be worse than land in terms of total lives lost, but I can't back that up with any paperwork.

It depends, the reason the Siberia one blew out so much area is because it blew up over the ground, if that were to happen near civilization it'd be pretty devastating.

 

[nvanprooyen]

I thought he was a finance guy. He had a link to his site in his sig - http://curtrenz.com/ . Same dude that made the Bears wallpapers from time to time. His username was "centaur" or something like that. How I remember all that, no idea.

 

[KittiesKorner]

this is centaur's website. I know because I asked him some advice about silver and he included it in his podcast. note the "astronomy" tab in the right nav bar

http://curtrenz.com/

edit: oops, nvan already linked it up. that'll teach me to read the whole thread first next time

 

[ShiftyDevil]

this is centaur's website. I know because I asked him some advice about silver and he included it in his podcast. note the "astronomy" tab in the right nav bar

http://curtrenz.com/

edit: oops, nvan already linked it up. that'll teach me to read the whole thread first next time

Whew, that thing needs some work.

 

[nvanprooyen]

It offends me as a designer in a bad way, but he seemed like a nice guy

 

[Stapler]

That's him; thanks guys.

 

[Tjodalv]

Yeah, that's the dude.

 

[Monster]

Man... that calendar was close... lol

 

[Stapler]

My guess is that the little shaver that "barely missed us" was once part of the big one that's passing us by further out. Too bad we can't get samples of both to see if I'm right.