Asteroid To Be Naked-Eye Visible In 2029 240
An anonymous reader writes "SPACE.com is reporting that asteroid 2004 MN4 will fly so close to Earth in 2029 that it'll be visible to the naked eye. Other than barely-visible Vesta, this is a first. And 2004 MN4 will be about magnitude 3.3 -- like a dim but easily visible star. A moving star in this case. You might remember 2004 MN4 is the one that sparked worry, in December, that it would hit Earth. No worries, NASA says, just a once-in-a-millennium sky show."
Almost a quarter of a century? (Score:1, Interesting)
Plan now (Score:5, Interesting)
Large stable platform.
Within Earth orbit (mostly).
A (radio?) telescope?
Excellent Chance to Test Anti-Asteroid Technology (Score:4, Interesting)
Two ideas to test in 2029 are (1) dumping a bunch of white paint on the asteroid from a passing nuclear-powered interplanetary missile and (2) 1 week later, detonate a nuclear warhead loaded on another interplanetary missile that will fly close to but will not impact said asteroid. We had better test these ideas on a safe asteroid instead of waiting for the day when an asteroid aimed at earth actually arrives.
Given the fact that engineering is not perfect, if we do not actually test these anti-asteroid technologies in advance, then we run the high risk of failure when we use them for the 1st time on an actual asteroid destined for earth. To my knowledge, very few engineering products work correctly on the first try. 'Tis better to be safe than sorry.
There will be other stuff to watch... (Score:5, Interesting)
There are also shooting stars occurring quite often, more now with the space junk we've got floating up there. And there should be at least two comets, which are effectively luminescent asteroids, visible this year as well.
Just make sure you get away from light pollution if you want the best opportunity to observe these spectacles. About fifteen minutes in any direction out of town will do, and will make you think seriously about more serious astrology (you'd be surprised how much can be done with under $1000 of equipment!)
light pollution (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:24 years? pshhhh.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Almost a quarter of a century? (Score:5, Interesting)
a. Give us an opportunity to explore techniques for redirecting asteroids.
b. Provide a test bed for asteroid mining techniques.
c. Become an orbiting space station.
d. Promote international cooperation.
Re:Almost a quarter of a century? (Score:3, Interesting)
The only "cheap" (in terms of fuel) way of loosing all that velocity I can think of is diverting it so that it skims the Earths atmosphere for aerobraking/capture.. Fancy trying it?
Re:Now? (Score:3, Interesting)
No.
The odds of the potential 2029 impact occurring have dropped so close to zero that the event is no longer even considered a long-shot possibility.