radioweather writes "A recently discovered
Apollo Asteroid, 2008 TC3,
exploded over Sudan at about 1046 EDT on October 7, 2008, according to
astronomer Tim Spahr of Harvard University 2008 TC3 was discovered on Monday by an observer at the Mt Lemmon
Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. 2008 TC3 is notable in that it is
the first Asteroid of its size that was identified before impact and tracking it
put the entire
Spaceguard tracking system to an extreme test. TC3 is estimated to be only two to five meters in diameter but
exploded with the force of a one kiloton of explosive power." We mentioned the asteroid last on Monday, when it was only at a 99.8 percent chance of colliding with Earth.
I once saw a meteor that was large enough to show a disk -- albeit burning very brightly (it lit up the night like an old-fashioned flashbulb). It only lasted a few seconds after that. Sadly for disaster theorists, the atmosphere was just too much for it.
Until they start throwing rocks the size of large buildings, or strip off the atmosphere before doing so, I just can't get too worried about such trivial space junk.
(Anyone know how big a rock needs to start off to survive the passage thru the atmosphere an
Anyone know how big a rock needs to start off to survive the passage thru the atmosphere and have any part of itself hit the ground??
Size doesn't matter (thank you. thank you. Tip your waitress). No, really. It matters, it just isn't "all" that matters. Relative velocity is just as important. If the body sneaks up on us from behind, it could actually have a relatively low differential velocity. The nickel-iron sample you found would probably fit in that category, and it slowed to terminal velocity befo
All true... tho I suppose someone somewhere has run the numbers for the basic classes of "speed + direction + mass + velocity + composition + fudge factor" vs. "size of hole in ground, or velocity and vectors of remaining chunks of planet".;)
I always wondered how that little chunk of iron wound up sitting on *top* of the grass, like it had been gently placed there... tho I've read that isn't too unusual with small meteorites.
Oh, very good, this does it nicely, thanks... I played with it a bit. Seems even a fairly large chunk of ice (100m) isn't enough to do more than make a few people go "What was that??" and it takes a similar-sized chunk of iron to make a crater like the famous one in Arizona.
I think we can all stop worrying... except for me; in the latter example, I stood too close to the impact and was ejected from the crater.:)
Spacewatch.com covered this about as well as one could expect. Apparently a couple airline pilots saw the possible fireball, but that's about it. I've seen no photos yet (probably none were captured). So although we infer the thing burned up (or "exploded!one!!111!!eleven" as per the/. headline), it's not as sensationalistic as Our Editors make it out to be.
Would someone please search the Sudan desert for alien spores that will begin taking over human bodies if we don't kill them now while they are helpless?
This spore-laden asteroid was only a followup, a redundant backup mission. The original alien spore mission to Sudan succeeded several years ago... spore-infected individuals are known to take up weapons and form militia groups who then engage in rape, murder, and genocide. So far nobody outside Sudan seems to have taken much notice or to care.
Dear kind sir, I am located in the Sudan, and a small piece of this asteroid landed in a nearby field. I have investigated, and there is unfortunately evidence of alien spores. However, I am presently unable to eradicate them. If you could wire a sum of $10,000 (ten thousand dollars) to my account then I will be able to take action. I am an official in the Sudanese government, and can guarantee that your expendature will be reimburesed plus an additional $10,000 reward, but it operates slowly and the government funds will not be available in time.
I look forward to hearing back from you if you can help. I will send detailed information in response. I fear that if you do not help, the Earth may be susceptable to the alient invaders.
Because the asteroid was itentified and tracked days before it entered the atmosphere. For the first time, astronomers were able to predict the exact time and location the asteroid would strike (well, would have stuck if it hadn't exploded in the atmosphere). Also, what we see as shooting stars are little more than grains of sand, this was more like a good sized boulder and would have made a noticable fireball as it tracked across the sky.
"Because the asteroid was itentified and tracked days before it entered the atmosphere."
Days? We wish. It was discovered on October 6, 06:38 UTC, and impacted on October 7, 02:46 UTC. That's not days... that's about 20 hours.
It's awesomely cool that we saw this one coming. It's just a baby, though, and as the articles noted they hit us several times a year. What would be awesomely UNcool is if we didn't see its Big Sister until 20 hours before it hits somewhere over the northeast US.
The probability of an event that has already happened is always equal to 1. Predictions are uncertain only about the future, and, of course, for past events about which there is not enough information.
Don't be fooled people. I've seen the movies. I know these things come in groups. If there's one, there's more, and a bigger one is surely on it's way. First the Tsunami, then Katrina and Ike, then the Economy, now this. Those of you who haven't been saved are doomed.
"UPDATE: Please note that the use of an alarmist headline and imagery to increase the casual reader's desire to look at the entire article was an intentional parody."
CNN should hard-code that into their website's header.
It completely burned up miles above the surface. That quote is like saying "Drakin020 had a birthday party with cake! No deaths have been reported yet." In other words, it's purely sensationalism. Though it is a true statement, no deaths will *ever* be reported due to this event, because none occurred.
Yale said it was gonna hit the moon.
Columbia said it was gonna splash into the Indian Ocean.
Princeton said it was not really there.
NYCC said "Whatsup with that?"
The SEC said "Deep fry more chikin".
The Pac-10 said, "Dude, Surfs up"
The Big-10 said, "Time to go huntin".
Everybody else didn't have a clue.
You say that jokingly, but their per-capita debt is a fraction of ours. Sadly, they're already richer than we are. But we live a pretty good lifestyle on that debt.
Picture of explosion? (Score:3, Funny)
Pics or it didn't happen.
Re:Picture of explosion? (Score:5, Funny)
Pics or it did[n't] happen.
Fixed it for Schrödinger.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
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Pics or it did[n't] happen.
Fixed it for SchrÃdinger.
Pics or it hit my cat.
Fixed that for you.
It worked! (Score:2)
TFA (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I wouldn't mind exploding over Susan. Rarrwww!
Sounds like a movie I once saw...Armaget-it-on.
Only 99.8%? (Score:3, Funny)
Liike like this one sure beat the odds and proved everyone wrong...
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99.8 chance of what?! (Score:2, Insightful)
We mentioned the asteroid last on Monday, when it was only at a 99.8 percent chance of colliding with Earth.
[pedantic] you mean a 99.8 chance of colliding with Earth's atmosphere. [/pedantic]
From Slashdot's previous summary:
The asteroid is assumed to be 3-4 meters in size; it is expected to burn up completely in the atmosphere, causing no harm
...so don't go running underground just yet, kids.
Re: (Score:2)
I once saw a meteor that was large enough to show a disk -- albeit burning very brightly (it lit up the night like an old-fashioned flashbulb). It only lasted a few seconds after that. Sadly for disaster theorists, the atmosphere was just too much for it.
Until they start throwing rocks the size of large buildings, or strip off the atmosphere before doing so, I just can't get too worried about such trivial space junk.
(Anyone know how big a rock needs to start off to survive the passage thru the atmosphere an
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyone know how big a rock needs to start off to survive the passage thru the atmosphere and have any part of itself hit the ground??
Size doesn't matter (thank you. thank you. Tip your waitress). No, really. It matters, it just isn't "all" that matters. Relative velocity is just as important. If the body sneaks up on us from behind, it could actually have a relatively low differential velocity. The nickel-iron sample you found would probably fit in that category, and it slowed to terminal velocity befo
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
All true... tho I suppose someone somewhere has run the numbers for the basic classes of "speed + direction + mass + velocity + composition + fudge factor" vs. "size of hole in ground, or velocity and vectors of remaining chunks of planet". ;)
I always wondered how that little chunk of iron wound up sitting on *top* of the grass, like it had been gently placed there... tho I've read that isn't too unusual with small meteorites.
Re:99.8 chance of what?! (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, very good, this does it nicely, thanks... I played with it a bit. Seems even a fairly large chunk of ice (100m) isn't enough to do more than make a few people go "What was that??" and it takes a similar-sized chunk of iron to make a crater like the famous one in Arizona.
I think we can all stop worrying ... except for me; in the latter example, I stood too close to the impact and was ejected from the crater. :)
Re: (Score:2)
Ohhhh... Oh dear. Silly me! I hope I didn't make the aliens fall out of their chairs when I picked it up.
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That's okay. It's not the end of the world if it's not the end of the world.
(from V3 [stationv3.com], can't find the exact strip)
Re: (Score:2)
[doublypedantic]Some of it did hit the earth. It just didn't hit the earth intact, or in any large pieces[/doublypedantic]
Are you saying it all evaporated, and left the atmosphere? Because if any of it landed on the earth, then it did hit the Earth.
Re: (Score:2)
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Fine, but no one really saw it (Score:2)
Spacewatch.com covered this about as well as one could expect. Apparently a couple airline pilots saw the possible fireball, but that's about it. I've seen no photos yet (probably none were captured). So although we infer the thing burned up (or "exploded!one!!111!!eleven" as per the /. headline), it's not as sensationalistic as Our Editors make it out to be.
Re:Fine, but no one really saw it (Score:5, Informative)
More comprehensive information from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_TC3 [wikipedia.org]
Parent
Earth 1: Bugs 0 (Score:4, Funny)
I, for one, welcome our claim as overlords over these asteroid-flinging insects.
Invasion? (Score:2)
Would someone please search the Sudan desert for alien spores that will begin taking over human bodies if we don't kill them now while they are helpless?
Re:Invasion? (Score:5, Funny)
i have searched there is no danger please come see for yourself bring glucose
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Bristol? Is that you?
Re:Invasion? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Invasion? (Score:5, Funny)
Dear kind sir, I am located in the Sudan, and a small piece of this asteroid landed in a nearby field. I have investigated, and there is unfortunately evidence of alien spores. However, I am presently unable to eradicate them. If you could wire a sum of $10,000 (ten thousand dollars) to my account then I will be able to take action. I am an official in the Sudanese government, and can guarantee that your expendature will be reimburesed plus an additional $10,000 reward, but it operates slowly and the government funds will not be available in time.
I look forward to hearing back from you if you can help. I will send detailed information in response. I fear that if you do not help, the Earth may be susceptable to the alient invaders.
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Then again, I bet lots of disingenuous spam writers would love to have you help them...
Re: (Score:2)
Given the way people are acting in the Sudan currently, things would probably be much better if they were all taken over by alien spores.
Why is this news? (Score:3, Insightful)
I was under the impression that these sort of tiny asteroids burned up in our atmosphere all the time and were observed as shooting stars.
Re:Why is this news? (Score:5, Informative)
It's news because this is the first time we detected one before it hit and were able to track its descent.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Because the asteroid was itentified and tracked days before it entered the atmosphere. For the first time, astronomers were able to predict the exact time and location the asteroid would strike (well, would have stuck if it hadn't exploded in the atmosphere). Also, what we see as shooting stars are little more than grains of sand, this was more like a good sized boulder and would have made a noticable fireball as it tracked across the sky.
Re: (Score:2)
"Because the asteroid was itentified and tracked days before it entered the atmosphere."
Days? We wish. It was discovered on October 6, 06:38 UTC, and impacted on October 7, 02:46 UTC. That's not days... that's about 20 hours.
It's awesomely cool that we saw this one coming. It's just a baby, though, and as the articles noted they hit us several times a year. What would be awesomely UNcool is if we didn't see its Big Sister until 20 hours before it hits somewhere over the northeast US.
Personal bolide sto
Re: (Score:2)
> It's news because it was the first one that has been tracked, predicted to hit, and then hit.
It's news because it was the first one that has been tracked.
*poof* bye bye (Score:3, Interesting)
We mentioned the asteroid last on Monday, when it was only at a 99.8 percent chance of colliding with Earth.
Mm.. so I suppose that means it now has a 0.0 percent chance of colliding with the Earth. Or is that number now 'NaN' since it doesn't exist anymore?
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The probability of an event that has already happened is always equal to 1. Predictions are uncertain only about the future, and, of course, for past events about which there is not enough information.
Re: (Score:2)
100%, since it did collide with the earth :)
The End Is Near (Score:4, Funny)
Don't be fooled people. I've seen the movies. I know these things come in groups. If there's one, there's more, and a bigger one is surely on it's way. First the Tsunami, then Katrina and Ike, then the Economy, now this. Those of you who haven't been saved are doomed.
BTW, anyone want to buy a copy of my newsletter?
Alarmism Amok! (Score:3, Insightful)
From TFA:
"UPDATE: Please note that the use of an alarmist headline and imagery to increase the casual reader's desire to look at the entire article was an intentional parody."
CNN should hard-code that into their website's header.
Stupid hyperbole (Score:2)
"extreme test" my ass. I get all the "extreme" I could ever need on Discovery Channel, please keep the language inflation off Slashdot.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Over.
It completely burned up miles above the surface. That quote is like saying "Drakin020 had a birthday party with cake! No deaths have been reported yet." In other words, it's purely sensationalism. Though it is a true statement, no deaths will *ever* be reported due to this event, because none occurred.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Columbia said it was gonna splash into the Indian Ocean.
Princeton said it was not really there.
NYCC said "Whatsup with that?"
The SEC said "Deep fry more chikin".
The Pac-10 said, "Dude, Surfs up"
The Big-10 said, "Time to go huntin".
Everybody else didn't have a clue.
Re:Guess what? (Score:4, Funny)
Head-on, apply directly to the atmosphere. Head-on, apply directly to the atmosphere. Head-on, apply directly to the atmosphere.
Parent
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it's hard to have any per capita debt when you have nothing to buy.....
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Their earning capacity is like 1% as well...