Brace yourself for another asteroid flyby
To quote science reporter Deborah Netburn:
It’s 1.7 miles long. Its surface is covered in a sticky black substance similar to the gunk at the bottom of a barbecue. If it impacted Earth it would probably result in global extinction. Good thing it is just making a flyby.
At approximately 1:59 p.m. PDT May 31, Asteroid 1998 QE2 will make a close (by galactic standards) pass by our home planet. Coming within just 3.6 million miles of Earth, the asteroid will be so close that many of its features will be visible on radar.
For more details on the asteroid, including its possible origin, at Science Now.
Photo: NASA / JPL / Caltech
[video]
NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds Essential Ingredients for Life in Ancient Rock Sample -
by Ryan Grenoble, Huffington Post
This, of course, is a developing story.
“The asteroid packed a huge punch, the power of 20 Hiroshima bombs. It was a “city buster,” capable of flattening a modern metropolis and reducing it to rubble. It was a miracle that the asteroid exploded roughly 10 to 15 miles above ground: had there been a ground burst, it would have caused tens of thousands of casualties. If that asteroid had hit just a few seconds later, it would have created a tragedy on Earth.”
— Michio Kaku - Asteroid Apocalypse? Why Scientists Worry About 2036’s ‘Planet Buster’
I was unaware of the fact that it was so large and that it would have been such a problem if it would have struck ground. Fascinating. (via therecipe)
“It was an amazing spectacle, a rapid succession of giant asteroids blazing across the sky. First, on February 15, Russia was hit with the biggest asteroid in 100 years. Barely a few hours later, an even bigger one made the closest approach to Earth ever recorded for an asteroid of its size. Then the residents of San Francisco, Cuba, and south Florida looked up and saw meteors streak across the sky, rattling their nerves.” — Michio Kaku - Asteroid Apocalypse? Why Scientists Worry About 2036’s ‘Planet Buster’
At least 400 people have been injured after a meteor shower over central Russia blew out windows, interior ministry sources say. Brightly burning rocks could be seen for hundreds of kilometres as they crashed into the Ural region - BBC News
- As many as 950 people seek medical assistance after meteorite fragments fall in central Russia - @ria_novosti
- Russian Emergency Ministry denies reports military shot down meteor over Urals; saying ‘took no action connected to the incident’ - @RT_com
- Injury toll from Russian meteor is the largest known caused by an object from space, British expert says - @AFP
- Meteor damaged some 3,000 buildings in Chelyabinsk, including 34 medical facilities and 361 schools, city administration says - @RT_com
- Hole in Chebarkul Lake made by Russian meteor debris (PHOTO)#meteorite http://t.co/OlI9DoG4
(via dendroica)
[video]
[video]
[video]
kikkacat asked: is that photo ohl of our galaxy to scale? because the size of the sun left me flabbergasted! i had always imagined the sun as waaaaay bigger than all the planets.
The scale looks to be waaaaay off. The Sun is larger than all of the other mass in our solar system combined. In fact, the Sun is almost ALL of the mass of our solar system: approx 99%!