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Asteroid buzzed Earth this weekend

Waspie_Dwarf

By Waspie_Dwarf
in Space: Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Waspie_Dwarf Eternal

Waspie_Dwarf

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Asteroid buzzed Earth this weekend

2018 GE3 swept by at half the moon’s distance Sunday, just hours after being detected. Its size is 3 to 6 times that of the space rock that penetrated the skies over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013.

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A medium-sized asteroid buzzed by Earth just hours after being detected this weekend. First observed at Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona on Saturday, April 14, 2018, the asteroid – which has been labeled 2018 GE3 – swept past us at about half the Earth-moon distance early Sunday morning according to clocks in North America. Closest approach to Earth occurred at around 2:41 a.m. EDT (6:41 UTC; translate UTC to your time) on April 15.

Its closest point to Earth was just 119,500 miles (192,317 km) away. That’s in contrast to the moon’s quarter-million-mile (400,000 km) distance. According to NASA, hours later, at about 5:59 a.m. EDT on April 15, the space rock passed even closer to the moon than it had to Earth.

arrow3.gif  Read More: EarthSky

 

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MissJatti
MissJatti

Space rock detected mere hours before passing Earth??? I thought we had better technology than that, guess I'm wrong.

Waspie_Dwarf
Waspie_Dwarf

Asteroid buzzed Earth this weekend 2018 GE3 swept by at half the moon’s distance Sunday, just hours after being detected. Its size is 3 to 6 times that of the space rock that penetrated the skies

RoofGardener
RoofGardener

Relax. Had it hit us, it would only have been the size of a SMALL atomic bomb ! What if that had hit .. say .... Tehran, or Damascus ? Would we have been able to determine its stellar origin BEFO

RoofGardener Erudite

RoofGardener

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Relax. Had it hit us, it would only have been the size of a SMALL atomic bomb !

What if that had hit .. say .... Tehran, or Damascus ? Would we have been able to determine its stellar origin BEFORE Russia, Israel or the USA started pushing buttons ? 

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Waspie_Dwarf Eternal

Waspie_Dwarf

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2 minutes ago, RoofGardener said:

Relax. Had it hit us, it would only have been the size of a SMALL atomic bomb !

What if that had hit .. say .... Tehran, or Damascus ? Would we have been able to determine its stellar origin BEFORE Russia, Israel or the USA started pushing buttons ? 

Yep. Both the USA and Russia have satellites which can detect missile launches and determine the origin of large blasts in the upper atmosphere (nuclear bomb sized explosions occur in the upper atmosphere several times a year). In fact most of what is know about such meteor explosions comes from declassified information from such satellites.

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and-then Eternal

+and-then

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I just hope the Russian or Iranian government would share that info with their people.  I remember after Chelyabinsk there were Russian citizens blaming the U.S. for attacking them.  Not a lot of trust these days.  I hope we never have to find out but these things seem to be more common than the average person would believe, don't they?

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RoofGardener Erudite

RoofGardener

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11 hours ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Yep. Both the USA and Russia have satellites which can detect missile launches and determine the origin of large blasts in the upper atmosphere (nuclear bomb sized explosions occur in the upper atmosphere several times a year). In fact most of what is know about such meteor explosions comes from declassified information from such satellites.

True, Waspie.. but... in the heat of the moment, if a meteorite struck a key area at a sensitive time, would anyone BELIEVE that it wasn't the Americans/Russians/French ? On the grounds of... "oh that would be TOO much of a co-incidence". The conspiracy theorists would immediately suggest that "the other side" had deliberately influenced the trajectory of a meteorite, or had a stock of them in orbit ready to launch at ground targets. 

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Waspie_Dwarf Eternal

Waspie_Dwarf

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3 hours ago, RoofGardener said:

True, Waspie.. but... in the heat of the moment, if a meteorite struck a key area at a sensitive time, would anyone BELIEVE that it wasn't the Americans/Russians/French ? On the grounds of... "oh that would be TOO much of a co-incidence". The conspiracy theorists would immediately suggest that "the other side" had deliberately influenced the trajectory of a meteorite, or had a stock of them in orbit ready to launch at ground targets. 

Don't be paranoid. So you really think that some random person would just push a button and start amageddon on a whim?

In the real world there are procedures and chains of command. Massive nuclear retaliation would be ordered in the case of the detection of a mass launch from the enemy. Asteroid reentry = no launch =:no massive retaliation. 

I was exactly such fears of an accidental nuclear war that led the USA and Soviet Union to develop the satellites which can differentiate between meteors and warheads in the first place.

Chelyabinsk is proof that the systems work.

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RoofGardener Erudite

RoofGardener

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49 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Don't be paranoid. So you really think that some random person would just push a button and start amageddon on a whim?

In the real world there are procedures and chains of command. Massive nuclear retaliation would be ordered in the case of the detection of a mass launch from the enemy. Asteroid reentry = no launch =:no massive retaliation. 

I was exactly such fears of an accidental nuclear war that led the USA and Soviet Union to develop the satellites which can differentiate between meteors and warheads in the first place.

Chelyabinsk is proof that the systems work.

Well, good then :)

And of course, Pakistan and Iran have access to these satellites... so if one of THEIR military bases (or cities) was massively damaged during a period of high tension, they would ALSO calmly analyse the explosion, and not be suspicious or paranoid, and resist knee-jerk reactions. :) 

Excellent. Umm.....

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MissJatti Enlightened

MissJatti

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Space rock detected mere hours before passing Earth???

I thought we had better technology than that, guess I'm wrong.

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Nnicolette Illuminated

Nnicolette

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2 hours ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Don't be paranoid. So you really think that some random person would just push a button and start amageddon on a whim?

In the real world there are procedures and chains of command. Massive nuclear retaliation would be ordered in the case of the detection of a mass launch from the enemy. Asteroid reentry = no launch =:no massive retaliation. 

I was exactly such fears of an accidental nuclear war that led the USA and Soviet Union to develop the satellites which can differentiate between meteors and warheads in the first place.

Chelyabinsk is proof that the systems work.

Random person? Are we forgetting who the President is? No he would never just drop bombs on a whim... in the real world there are procedures and chains of command? Thats a lovely notion and all but a choice time to say such a silly thing.

An asteroid starting nuclear war is silly too but very plausible 200 years ago had nukes existed.

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Waspie_Dwarf Eternal

Waspie_Dwarf

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2 hours ago, RoofGardener said:

Well, good then :)

And of course, Pakistan and Iran have access to these satellites... so if one of THEIR military bases (or cities) was massively damaged during a period of high tension, they would ALSO calmly analyse the explosion, and not be suspicious or paranoid, and resist knee-jerk reactions. :) 

Excellent. Umm.....

Except Pakistan, whilst having nuclear capability, have no nuclear missiles deployed.

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Waspie_Dwarf Eternal

Waspie_Dwarf

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59 minutes ago, NicoletteS said:

Random person? Are we forgetting who the President is?

Had you bothered to read and comprehend the previous posts in this topic you would have realised that was EXACTLY the point I was making.

And no I haven't forgotten who the president is... I don't have one.

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Waspie_Dwarf Eternal

Waspie_Dwarf

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7 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Except Pakistan, whilst having nuclear capability, have no nuclear missiles deployed.

Okay, further research shows that this is not quite true, they are however in storage and not capable of the kind of knee jerk reaction you refer to. Pakistans nuclear capability is limited to tactical nuclear weapons and so. whilst being able to strike targets in India they are not capable of causing global nuclear catastrophe.

Now is there actually any chance of an ON topic post?

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RoofGardener Erudite

RoofGardener

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3 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Okay, further research shows that this is not quite true, they are however in storage and not capable of the kind of knee jerk reaction you refer to. Pakistans nuclear capability is limited to tactical nuclear weapons and so. whilst being able to strike targets in India they are not capable of causing global nuclear catastrophe.

Now is there actually any chance of an ON topic post?

Relax Waspie_Dwarf; I've solved the problem. 

I've written to my MP asking him to table a draft bill in Parliament requiring ALL asteroids, meteors and comets to register with UK ATC prior to entering the atmosphere. (on pain of a fine). 

Sorted ! :) 

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geraldnewfie Novice

geraldnewfie

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22 hours ago, MissJatti said:

Space rock detected mere hours before passing Earth???

I thought we had better technology than that, guess I'm wrong.

nope! they rather waste it on stupid wars over oil and religion, imagine a world without war and how much we could accomplish

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