Two Asteroids Missed Earth And The Moon Today March 26 2012

Two tiny asteroids zipped close by Earth today (March 26), passing between our planet and the orbit of the moon, but posed no threat of impacting our world, NASA scientists say.

The two space rocks flew by Earth in rapid fire; one zoomed by early in the day while the second buzzed the planet at 1:09 p.m. EDT (1709 GMT), according to astronomers with NASA's Asteroid Watch program.

www.space.com...

Even the fact that these were small, why weren't we notified about it before they came by??? I don't get it... If they don't tell us about these small things... I guess we will only find out about the big ones after we hear a big boom and it puts up a big dust cloud or tsunami or worse!

I've noticed there has been an increase over the last 2 years of space debris of all kinds.

Good find, S&F.

~Namaste

April 1, 2012 ssd.jpl.nasa.gov... asteroid 2012EG5 reportedly to pass 0.6LD from earth(approx230,000miles). Size 60m or 200feet. Does not seem that close to me. Threat level was 9 and now it is 7. This happens often as data changes. Wait and see I guess.

Originally posted by tallblondealien
April 1, 2012 ssd.jpl.nasa.gov... asteroid 2012EG5 reportedly to pass 0.6LD from earth(approx230,000miles). Size 60m or 200feet. Does not seem that close to me. Threat level was 9 and now it is 7. This happens often as data changes. Wait and see I guess.

That's not the threat level, that's the uncertainty level which is just a general measure of how well determined the orbit is. All newly discovered objects which have only a few observations at first ALWAYS have a high uncertainty level to start with.

Originally posted by kennvideo
Even the fact that these were small, why weren't we notified about it before they came by??? I don't get it... If they don't tell us about these small things...

You're assuming, rather blatantly, that they "withheld" the information. They don't. The information is always out there. Here is a list of the latest newly discovered objects that haven't even been confirmed yet:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
Newly confirmed and updated objects can be found here:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
The first MPEC on the confirmed 2012 FS35 was issued yesterday, before it came by, same day as its first observation and discovery:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
The MPEC on 2012 FP35 was also issued yesterday:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
It's worth noting that some of the very first observations of this asteroid, which are contained in these MPECs, came from amateur astronomers who helped confirm it and collect data for the initial determination of its orbit.

Originally posted by ngchunter

Originally posted by kennvideo
Even the fact that these were small, why weren't we notified about it before they came by??? I don't get it... If they don't tell us about these small things...

You're assuming, rather blatantly, that they "withheld" the information. They don't. The information is always out there. Here is a list of the latest newly discovered objects that haven't even been confirmed yet:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
Newly confirmed and updated objects can be found here:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
The first MPEC on the confirmed 2012 FS35 was issued yesterday, before it came by, same day as its first observation and discovery:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
The MPEC on 2012 FP35 was also issued yesterday:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
It's worth noting that some of the very first observations of this asteroid, which are contained in these MPECs, came from amateur astronomers who helped confirm it and collect data for the initial determination of its orbit.

How do we know if anyone, like the government for whatever reason they would give or have, withheld any info if they withheld it? Catch 22.
So they can discover something and must CONFIRM it first? What if they discover it and it hits us before they confirm it? Another conundrum.

Originally posted by kennvideo

Originally posted by ngchunter

Originally posted by kennvideo
Even the fact that these were small, why weren't we notified about it before they came by??? I don't get it... If they don't tell us about these small things...

You're assuming, rather blatantly, that they "withheld" the information. They don't. The information is always out there. Here is a list of the latest newly discovered objects that haven't even been confirmed yet:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
Newly confirmed and updated objects can be found here:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
The first MPEC on the confirmed 2012 FS35 was issued yesterday, before it came by, same day as its first observation and discovery:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
The MPEC on 2012 FP35 was also issued yesterday:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
It's worth noting that some of the very first observations of this asteroid, which are contained in these MPECs, came from amateur astronomers who helped confirm it and collect data for the initial determination of its orbit.

How do we know if anyone, like the government for whatever reason they would give or have, withheld any info if they withheld it? Catch 22.

Because amateur astronomers also observe these asteroids, including these specific asteroids. They would know if the published information was false. You claimed they didn't notify anyone until after they went by. That is false.

So they can discover something and must CONFIRM it first?

No, they publish the discovery and ask for confirmation from others, including amateurs such as the ones mentioned above.

What if they discover it and it hits us before they confirm it? Another conundrum.

That's like asking what if they discover it after it hits us. What's the point of your hypothetical supposed to be? If they don't even have confirmation yet and it hits us that doesn't mean they withheld anything; as I just showed you, the information is out there even before it is confirmed, even though the asteroid only has a provisional designation until confirmation. If it hits us so quickly that there isn't even time for another observer to confirm it, what's the point anyway? That would simply mean it was only discovered a very short time prior to impact, oh well.

reply to post by ngchunter


Ok, I'll play your game. Someone discovers an object that no one else has. They do the math and oh no it's on a collision course with Earth or the Moon in say two to three days.. cause it's not that large and that's why nobody spotted it before. This is GOING to make it through Earth’s atmosphere or definitely land on the Moon and pack a little punch. What do you propose be done AND what WILL be done by the agency or the government that the discoverer reported it to? Will word get out through the MSM or will we just hear about it on places like ATS or the radio show Coast to Coast?

Originally posted by kennvideo
reply to post by ngchunter

 

Ok, I'll play your game. Someone discovers an object that no one else has. They do the math and oh no it's on a collision course with Earth or the Moon in say two to three days.. cause it's not that large and that's why nobody spotted it before. This is GOING to make it through Earth’s atmosphere or definitely land on the Moon and pack a little punch. What do you propose be done AND what WILL be done by the agency or the government that the discoverer reported it to? Will word get out through the MSM or will we just hear about it on places like ATS or the radio show Coast to Coast?

No one would know for sure if it was going to hit earth or not two or three days out just based on the initial discovery observation. Possible impacts with short lead time have been discovered before, and as before they would publish the discovery data and provide ephemeris so that additional observations could be collected by both professional and amateur astronomers. It doesn't matter whether "TPTB" would decide to announce it through the MSM or not, the information would already be out there to those who are actually paying attention. Sorry to break it to you, but ATS and coast to coast AM are not the way to stay alert to new potential impact threats. If you want to stay up to date on the newest discoveries including potential threats, this is what you want:
www.minorplanetcenter.net...
www.minorplanetcenter.net...

Asteroids missed Earth and the Moon lots of other days too before yesterday, which makes it quite a common event.

But, is each day that an asteroid misses Earth a day nearer to when one will hit?

Originally posted by doobydoll
But, is each day that an asteroid misses Earth a day nearer to when one will hit?

Yes and no,

Asteroids do hit earth every day, or near enough. Many go unnoticed because the vast majority of earth's surface area is ocean/uninhabited.

Of course, most of these are relatively small (1-5 m), but an asteroid the size of a small house probably hits the atmosphere once every year. Even at this size, our atmosphere will pulverize most of these long before they reach the ground.

Every day, many tonnes of material fall to Earth from space. The number of pieces of rock that falls each year drops as the size of the rock increases. Most of the material is in the form of tiny specks of dust, and we do not notice it. Thousands of meteorites weighing about a kilogram fall to Earth every year, but only five or six of these will be recovered – for example if they fall through the roof of a house. Huge meteorites weighing several tons that make craters on the Earth's surface are rare events that only take place every few thousand years.

unm.edu

Weird... That night I was outside with my friends explaining to them how the google skymap app worked and how the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter were making that triangle in the sky. My friend(who knows nothing about astronomy) was telling me how he didn't believe meteors even come close to hitting Earth on a regular basis.

What my question is, is why lately have we been discovering all these new meteors, comets, and asteroids? I'm not a believer in Planet X or Niburu or however you spell it but maybe we are in like an asteroid belt that is part of the galaxy? Since we have our own asteroid belt here in our solar system and we are moving through the milky way to line up with our galactic center could this be possible?

Originally posted by RBinOkc
Weird... That night I was outside with my friends explaining to them how the google skymap app worked and how the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter were making that triangle in the sky. My friend(who knows nothing about astronomy) was telling me how he didn't believe meteors even come close to hitting Earth on a regular basis.

Assuming your friend meant to say "meteoroids", which are small fragments of mainly comets and asteroids (between 0.1 mm and 1 m in size), then you need to take him/her out in the countryside on a clear moonless night, well away from the city lights, and any small towns - I'd head for somewhere like the area surrounding Mullen, Nebraska.

Take a couple of sleeping bags, warm cloths, some food and drink, and spend the night looking directly up from your sleeping bags. If the weather is kind, and the sky is clear you will see at perhaps a handful of meteors (which are the luminous phenomena we see when meteoroids enter our atmosphere) for each hour you observe.

Any clear night would do, but if you really want to impress your friend, take him/her out on the 12th August and spend the night looking up. The Perseid meteor shower will be building up to a peak early in the morning on the 13th, so you should see many meteors if the sky is clear - a few hundred is not unusual for me in an average year.

Although you're not likely to see any asteroids (objects that are over 1 m in size) after only a night or two, there's a good chance you'll see a "fireball" class meteor (a meteor that is significantly brighter than usual) or two, which is cased by a an object that can be as small as a pebble. A meteoroid the size of a medium sized melon could easily produce a fireball as bright as a full moon when it enters the atmosphere.

Originally posted by RBinOkc
What my question is, is why lately have we been discovering all these new meteors, comets, and asteroids?

The main reason is that technology/optics have improved. We have gotten better at spotting them to put it simply.

NASA's WISE Mission discovered 33,500 new asteroids and comets between December 14, 2009 and February 17, 2011 for example.

Better and cheaper technology has also allowed amateurs to hunt for ever fainter/smaller/more distant objects as well.

Most of the larger and more threatening asteroids have been found now.

Originally posted by RBinOkc
I'm not a believer in Planet X or Niburu or however you spell it but maybe we are in like an asteroid belt that is part of the galaxy? Since we have our own asteroid belt here in our solar system and we are moving through the milky way to line up with our galactic center could this be possible?

Not a chance.

Extra-solar bodies have a very distinctive signature in terms of their velocity relative to solar system bodies. Because they would be in orbit around the galactic center, they would be significantly faster than objects orbiting the sun, just as objects orbiting earth are traveling slower than objects orbiting the sun. That's basic orbital dynamics.

In short, we would notice large extra-solar bodies, or any increase in them. What we do see, is the occasional extra solar micro meteoroid, and even a microscopic intergalactic meteoroid once in a while. Larger stuff is super rare, and unlikely to bother us any time in the near future.