First Photos of Asteroid 2011 MD 26
astroengine writes "At around 1 p.m. EDT on Monday, asteroid 2011 MD narrowly missed Earth's atmosphere, passing well within the orbits of our GPS satellites. Scientists worked hard to track the space rock, and astronomers using the 2-meter Faulkes Telescope in Siding Spring, Australia, managed to image the asteroid. Also, Planetary Science Institute research scientist Pasquale Tricarico put together some pretty cool asteroid-eye-view animations of the event."
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He's just a dentist, probably just checking out our gravities.
Photos... (Score:3)
(TL;DR abstract - all I could see were some traces of light. Bruce Willis didn't bother)
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Many amateurs imaged the asteroid flyby as well. I have a video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCN77UZ2RUo [youtube.com]
The asteroid dips in brightness every 11.66 minutes -- you can see it regularly changing brightness in the video.
Its only ~10m in diameter. I keep picturing Bruce Willis strapped to the rock in a black space suit going round and round every 11.66 minutes....
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http://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2011/06/ot-close-encounters-of-rocky-kind-2011.html [blogspot.com]
Would be fun to slap an instrument pack on this (Score:2)
If we could ever get ready ahead of time it would be cool to throw up a net to entangle this thing with a bunch of instruments.
It looks to be just rocky enough to hold together and carry a signification package of radios and particle collection panels etc.
Maybe we could brake it enough to put it in orbit.
Lawyers ears perk up all over the world...
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If we could ever get ready ahead of time it would be cool to throw up a net to entangle this thing with a bunch of instruments.
It looks to be just rocky enough to hold together and carry a signification package of radios and particle collection panels etc.
Maybe we could brake it enough to put it in orbit.
Lawyers ears perk up all over the world...
Ever see an instrument after it comes into contact with a rock traveling at many times the speed of sound? If there was an atmosphere to carry the sound, "thwack!" would be an understatement.
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Not if you accelerate the instrument to match speeds.
Its not rocket science... Oh wait, it is... Never mind.
In any event, we've done it before. Continue your education here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7812623/First-spacecraft-to-land-on-an-asteroid-due-back-on-Earth.html [telegraph.co.uk]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/02/010214075526.htm [sciencedaily.com]
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If it's this close you don't need much. A military satellite killer missile could make it up there, and those are ready to launch 10 minutes ago.
I wonder if they could be programmed to match orbits...
Hit Spacebar to Fire Cannon (Score:2)
Space Lasers? (Score:1)
Did anyone else see the animated clip at the bottom, and immediately find themselves making the pew-pew-pew sound?
And we hear a "Doh!" from Mars (Score:1)
A statement amounting to "Doh!" was issued today by the Martian High Command as a missile sent to Earth in retaliation for the multiple objects crashed into Mars by Earth went wide of its mark by 7,500 miles. Apparently the calibration of certain instruments was in fa'loops while others were in grelungs causing an embarrassing miss. Detractors of the High Command called for both a change to the S.I. (for System Interplaneterie) system of measurement and also for budget cuts.
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Unfortunately, the governments of Earth are running out of quarters, so the new high score on this game will have to remain unclaimed for another year.
Who would it have hit? (Score:2)
I watched the vid a few times. If it had been on a course for the center of the Earth, it looks like it would have killer-asteroided all over Burma.
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Obligatory (Score:1)
It's, "Whoosh" on a cosmic scale!
Hmmm... (Score:1)
MISSED us by..... THAT... much... :) ...I had to say it, mod me down at will. :)
Almost Second Impact (Score:2)
If it would hit the antarctic, then the angels would surely come!
Practice makes perfect (Score:1)