This is a quite exciting bit of news, to geeks, perhaps :)
"A near-Earth object that could be manmade has just been discovered hurtling toward us. On Wednesday (Jan. 13), an object called 2010 AL30 will fly by Earth at a distance of just 130,000 km (80,000 miles). That's only one-third of the way from here to the moon, ie: very close."
"The discovery of this 10-meter-wide object is testament to the increasing capabilities of the international community of asteroid hunters."
Thank you to Discovery News for a great article.
A 2 day warning wouldn't be enough, of course, should it be an earth-ender. While this object is not big enough to pose any threat, 2 days warning for a 10 metre wide object is certainly better than we've had before.
The orbit is almost the same as Earth's, which has prompted some to speculate that it is space junk. This has been proved wrong though, and it is apparently a natural occuring asteroid.
On Thursday, at about 2PM our time, you won't see it, but it will be whizzing past overhead at i imagine a truly phenomenal speed. Nice.
4 comments:
Hmmm... Interesting. Dunno if I'd see it though.
I did see something weird a night or two ago, if that counts for anything. I pointed it out to my sister, and we were argueing about what it was. it seemed like a planet at 1st, had a redish tinge to the "star". Then, I swear I saw a blue dot, flashing twice. Then nothing. She said it was a satelite, but we looked at it, and it did not move like a satalite. In fact, it did ot move at all. Stood still, did kinda look like the entire light (like a star size thing, looks like a star, but it aint a star) seemed to kinda flash very slowly.
Anyway... told her it was a ufo... Never checked if it's still there. I think I shall do that right now.
Update.
It may very well be artificial after all:
perhaps a part of a Soyuz rocket
Love,
Terri
Hmmm Soul, i don't know about the flashing, but Mars is very bright lately, and it's red :)
Oooo thank you Terri, that's some very nice maths there. And yes i do think it's most likely. Curious as to why it's not wha NASA is saying, the calculations and variables seem quite straightforward?
I've just finished "Dark side of the moon" by Gerald de Groot, about "The magnificent madness of the american lunar quest", and how silly the whole nasa thing was and still is. A 35 billion dollar happy pill for the american people in the 60's, and it continues to be little more than a sideshow, entertainment more than science.
peace :)
Checked last night - clouds...
Checked tonight, by golly, your'e right, it's Mars.
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