Asteroid Alert

I thought I would post this here with proper sources before someone turns this event into another "Doomsday Thread":

Newly-discovered asteroid 2011 MD will pass only 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) above Earth's surface on Monday June 27 at about 9:30 a.m. EDT. NASA analysts say there is no chance the space rock will strike Earth. Nevertheless, the encounter is so close that Earth's gravity will sharply alter the asteroid's trajectory:

At closest approach, 2011 MD will pass in broad daylight over the southern Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Antarctica. As the asteroid recedes from Earth, it will pass through the zone of geosynchronous satellites. The chances of a collision with a satellite or manmade space junk are extremely small, albeit not zero.

spaceweather.com...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/15bc3e7a3948.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f8ca7d959a71.jpg[/atsimg]


NASA

The asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth over the South Atlantic, not far from Antarctica. It will be visible to moderate sized telescopes prior to this. For further observing information:
Sky & Telecope

Wow, that's awfully close!

Do you have any info on the size of the astroid?

Thx

EDIT: visited link... 5-20 meters apperantly.. not that big but nevertheless very glad it will do a passer-by

reply to post by DJW001


Wow... talk about a close call.

reply to post by j-man

Do you have any info on the size of the astroid?

Based on its brightness, it is estimated to be between 5 and 20 meters wide.

reply to post by j-man


5-20m diameter.

reply to post by DJW001


Is this part of the debris cloud from.... YA KNOW?????

0.05 Lunar Distance, that's about as close as it gets without hitting. Pretty cool

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

Is this part of the debris cloud from.... YA KNOW?????

Based on the orbital parameters, this asteroid may be one of those that has locked into a harmonic orbit with Earth... nothing to do with any un-named comet.

Isn't there some kind of magnetic anomaly over the south Atlantic? I think I remember something about it. Airplanes and even the NASA (shuttle flights) are aware of it. My brain is being tickled ... anyone remember about it? radiation and magnetic anomaly?? googled .. not finding it.

Could that anomaly effect the asteroid? Dunno ...

reply to post by DJW001


Thanks, was just wondering about the debris cloud surrounding it from objects pulled into its magnetic field of energy. Also was considering small moons and comets/asteriods riding with it as well. So Iwas just checking my friend..

Let's hope those calculations are correct. A slight miscalculation wouldn't be pretty.

Nice Find.

reply to post by DJW001


Upon Maxwell Smart’s return from his mission to disable the KHAOS moonbase, he reports to Chief.

Chief: “So, how did the mission go, Max?”

Smart: “Well Chief, let me put it this way. (makes a pinching motion with his hand) It misses us by that much”

Chief: "What misses us by that much?"

Smart: "Gotta go Chief, big date toniight"

reply to post by FlyersFan

Isn't there some kind of magnetic anomaly over the south Atlantic? I think I remember something about it. Airplanes and even the NASA (shuttle flights) are aware of it. My brain is being tickled ... anyone remember about it? radiation and magnetic anomaly??

The South Atlantic Anomaly is a region of the ERB (Van Allen Belts) that dips closer to the Earth's surface than the rest of the belts. Asteroid 2011MD will not be getting anywhere near this close.

Originally posted by jude11
Let's hope those calculations are correct. A slight miscalculation wouldn't be pretty.

Nice Find.

A buttock clenching miss!!! Luckily even if an asteroid of this size were on target with earth it would burn up in the earth's atmosphere before it could impact....

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

Thanks, was just wondering about the debris cloud surrounding it from objects pulled into its magnetic field of energy.

Neither comets nor asteroids have a magnetic field of energy. (Although nickle-iron asteroids would be magnetic due to the iron.)

Everything really cool seems to happen in the southern hemisphere, where like 15% of earth's people live, DRAT!

I want pictures, (or it didn't happen), joking.

Cool heads up dude.

i can guarantee, that this will become another end of the world comet on this site, just like elinin, in no time at all...
there is probably someone making an end of the world thread about it as we speak...

You can do some back of the envelope calculations on what this small asteroid would do IF it hit the Earth.



impact.ese.ic.ac.uk... link to calculator of effects from impacts

REMOVED effects of 10km asteroid effects...I misread the size of this asteroid...it is only 10m


OOPS that was for a 10km asteroid
not 10m LMAO


a 10m asteroid wont even release 1 megaton of TNT equivalent and will only cause a light breeze, and apparently happens once every 75 years on average...sorry no coffee yet

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by j-man

 

5-20m diameter.

Its not meters its miles
























sorry only kidding

Originally posted by Ophiuchus 13
reply to post by DJW001

 

Thanks, was just wondering about the debris cloud surrounding it from objects pulled into its magnetic field of energy. Also was considering small moons and comets/asteriods riding with it as well.

There is no 'magnetic field energy' of asteroids, just local gravity, they don't 'pull' things into their trajectory, they get gravity assist tugs from larger gravity objects. They travel much too fast to ever enter a planet's orbit, they are already traveling beyond escape velocity of every planet minus maybe Jupiter and the sun, which they would enter those body's Roach limit and break apart and disintegrate, long before it hit any 'surface'.

Only comets have comas, it is simple outgassing of their frozen 'water', nothing more, nothing spectacular, and when comets lose all of their 'water', they lose their tail and comas, and become simple dormant black comets.

Comet Elenin is believed to be a hyperbolic comet, meaning it will never return, poor Russian discoverer, found a comet for the first time in 20 years by a Russian, and it will never return. His fame is finite.