Russian Meteor Hammer

[David Jamieson]

No really, it's a real one!

Holy crap!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=4ZxXYscmgRg

[GoldenBrain]

Thats pretty flipping cool!

[GoldenBrain]

Apparently this was a pretty big deal over there. Here's another couple of amateur videos and a link to a news story on the event.

http://rt.com/news/meteorite-crash-urals-chelyabinsk-283/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvHl5Qcnzc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0cRHsApzt8


My guess, and thats all it is, a guess, is that it is debris from this close pass by.

http://news.sky.com/story/1052399/huge-asteroid-to-skim-past-earth-at-18641mph

[GeneChing]

"And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter."

Actually, Chernobyl translates to 'wormwood' so we've been there, done that. :o

[David Jamieson]

"And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter."

Actually, Chernobyl translates to 'wormwood' so we've been there, done that. :o

Interesting how those self fulfilling prophecies work eh?

[Syn7]

I guess.... :rolleyes:



There was a fireball over frisco a day or two later.

[David Jamieson]

Well. This guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_DA14 just flew past us and is still going by actually and won't fully be out of our influence until the 23rd.

Personally, I think it traveled with friends and we caught a few of those.
The Russian meteor was likely a companion to the above asteroid that's making the pass.

Because I am finally coming to understand that there is no such thing as coincidence.

[GoldenBrain]

Just wait til this fella comes around... Comet Ison will be visible in the sky from mid summer 2013 through winter 2013 and will be the brightest object in the sky next to the full moon. I hope it doesn't bring any friends with it.:eek:

http://www.space.com/19656-comet-ison-nasa-spacecraft-photos.html

Here's a quote from the article... "Having not come this way before means the comet's pristine surface has a higher probability of being laden with volatile material just spoiling for some of the sun's energy to heat it up and help it escape,"

[Syn7]

Well. This guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_DA14 just flew past us and is still going by actually and won't fully be out of our influence until the 23rd.

Personally, I think it traveled with friends and we caught a few of those.
The Russian meteor was likely a companion to the above asteroid that's making the pass.

Because I am finally coming to understand that there is no such thing as coincidence.

Define companion? A piece of? Moved by the same source? It's not uncommon for debris to find common routes.


I wanna see 99942 Apophis cruise through the keyhole. Then maybe we'll stop neglecting our space programs and their importance in the survival of mankind.

[sanjuro_ronin]

That wasn't a meteor...
*cue Superman theme*

[GoldenBrain]

Define companion? A piece of? Moved by the same source? It's not uncommon for debris to find common routes.


I wanna see 99942 Apophis cruise through the keyhole. Then maybe we'll stop neglecting our space programs and their importance in the survival of mankind.

Dooood, you got that right! Apophis could be a real game changer. It's path will take it so close to earth that it's been predicted to wipe out a bunch of satellites like bowling pins as it passes by, if it doesn't hit home. That means a possible cascade affect of colliding space debris with other satellites and so on until a purdy silver cloud enshrouds the earth for who knows how long.

Here's something awesome to thing about. The last US presidential election cost something like a billion dollars. NASA just wants 300 million a year in order to catalog them all and be able to take em out. Where are our priorities...:mad:

[Drake]

Who predicted the satellite mayhem?

[Syn7]

Dooood, you got that right! Apophis could be a real game changer. It's path will take it so close to earth that it's been predicted to wipe out a bunch of satellites like bowling pins as it passes by, if it doesn't hit home. That means a possible cascade affect of colliding space debris with other satellites and so on until a purdy silver cloud enshrouds the earth for who knows how long.

Here's something awesome to thing about. The last US presidential election cost something like a billion dollars. NASA just wants 300 million a year in order to catalog them all and be able to take em out. Where are our priorities...:mad:


Who predicted the satellite mayhem?

Yeah, I dunno about the satellite thing. There is always a chance when something crosses any of earths orbits that there will be collisions. But the numbers are WAY in favour of everything being ok. Also, not all satellites have the same orbit and some are more populated than others for various reasons that aren't relevant for this topic. So basically, yes there is a chance it could plow through the earth por any of the satellites in earths orbits, including the daddy of all earth satellite, la luna! But I mean, I'm not gonna lose sleep over any of it.


Drake, I suspect such predictions came from misinterpreted probabilities by amateurs and sensationalistic journalists. I mean, it's an obvious consideration, but like I said before, the numbers are in our favour. WAY in our favour.


Even if Apophis did hit the earth, it's most likely to land in the pacific creating roughly 40 to 50 consecutive tidal waves that won't ever get the chance to get too big or go very far inland(if curious I can provide some links). So basically you can just back off the west coast and you are all good. The long term affects are debatable, but by no means gonna cause our extinction. We are at a point where even if the one like the dinos dealt with, some humans would make it through. More than enough to repopulate. Besides, If the human race was wiped out, the cosmos would weep not.


Of course everything I just said is subject to change given new data. I think it's about a million to one at this point. Scary odds all considering, but realistically, we're prolly good. I just like the fear factor. I feel the wonder isn't enough to get these jerks to crowbar the budget to slide in some exploration.


And can we please built that PE in Texas already!!! To go from #1 to like # 12 in such a short time is just embarrassing. I would be embarrassed for you guys, but I come from a country whos most popular achievement is the Canada Arm, lol. So I'll STFU now... :D

[Drake]

AND types of orbit, distance from the Earth, etc etc.

It is fundamentally impossible for anything to knock over our satellites like bowling pins. Best case "Oh lookie, the asteroid won the lottery!" scenario is one. And that is one hell of a lottery to win.

[GoldenBrain]

Who predicted the satellite mayhem?

Here are two sources.

http://gizmodo.com/5974708/apophis-may-destroy-earth-satellites-in-2029

A quote from the article...
In 2029 we'll be safe from Apophis mayhem too. The asteroid will not hit Earth then, say astronomers, but it "will pass within 36,000 kilometers of Earth's surface, closer even than the orbits of geostationary satellites."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/across-the-universe/2013/jan/07/apophis-potentially-hazardous-asteroid-earth-wednesday

A quote from the article...
On Friday 13 April 2029, Apophis will slip past the Earth just 30,000km above our heads – less that one-tenth the distance of the moon and closer even than the communication satellites that encircle the Earth at 36,000km.

You gotta love the date.

I made up the bowling pin thing to sensationalize it a bit just for fun. I do get the physics but please continue to keep me on my toes so I don't regurgitate bad science. All I ask is to be allowed some slack to play around. Life is to short not to have a little fun now and then.

[Syn7]

AND types of orbit, distance from the Earth, etc etc.

It is fundamentally impossible for anything to knock over our satellites like bowling pins. Best case "Oh lookie, the asteroid won the lottery!" scenario is one. And that is one hell of a lottery to win.

Yeah that and the fact that the worst case scenario there, aside from the moon, a machine gets bashed and probably dragged in pieces out of whichever orbit it was in. So what. If a Bell satellite gets trashed, life will go on. MAYBE somebody will lose their cable for a few minutes. All the important systems are compartmentalized and have many redundancies. It's not gonna plow through the whole catalogue.

[Syn7]

Here are two sources.

http://gizmodo.com/5974708/apophis-may-destroy-earth-satellites-in-2029

A quote from the article...
In 2029 we'll be safe from Apophis mayhem too. The asteroid will not hit Earth then, say astronomers, but it "will pass within 36,000 kilometers of Earth's surface, closer even than the orbits of geostationary satellites."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/across-the-universe/2013/jan/07/apophis-potentially-hazardous-asteroid-earth-wednesday

A quote from the article...
On Friday 13 April 2029, Apophis will slip past the Earth just 30,000km above our heads – less that one-tenth the distance of the moon and closer even than the communication satellites that encircle the Earth at 36,000km.

You gotta love the date.

I made up the bowling pin thing to sensationalize it a bit just for fun. I do get the physics but please continue to keep me on my toes so I don't regurgitate bad science. All I ask is to be allowed some slack to play around. Life is to short not to have a little fun now and then.


Most satellites are pretty small. The space between them is very large. So yeah, the possibility is there. But we will know in advance exactly where it will be and if we have to we can move anything important. Aslong as it justifies the cost. It's not like the ISS is gonna get hit. The moon would suck though. But that won't happen. The odds on that are much greater. It's cool to calculate the trajectory with new data though. If it approaches we will get more and more accurate in our predictions. We will know well in advance. Also if it does go through the keyhole, we'll have a few years to figure something out. Nothing motivates like fear. As long as some retard doesn't try to like blow it up, we're ok.

[GoldenBrain]

Yeah that and the fact that the worst case scenario there, aside from the moon, a machine gets bashed and probably dragged in pieces out of whichever orbit it was in. So what. If a Bell satellite gets trashed, life will go on. MAYBE somebody will lose their cable for a few minutes. All the important systems are compartmentalized and have many redundancies. It's not gonna plow through the whole catalogue.

Here's another link describing the Kessler effect first postulated by NASA scientist Donald J Kessler in 1978.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

I'm really not worried though. As you mention there are redundancies.

[GoldenBrain]

Most satellites are pretty small. The space between them is very large. So yeah, the possibility is there. But we will know in advance exactly where it will be and if we have to we can move anything important. Aslong as it justifies the cost. It's not like the ISS is gonna get hit. The moon would suck though. But that won't happen. The odds on that are much greater. It's cool to calculate the trajectory with new data though. If it approaches we will get more and more accurate in our predictions. We will know well in advance. Also if it does go through the keyhole, we'll have a few years to figure something out. Nothing motivates like fear. As long as some retard doesn't try to like blow it up, we're ok.

Well said! One things for sure, I'm going to have my telescope out if it's pass is on our side of the planet. I really wish this last flyby of DA 14 had been visible from this side but alas, I can't have it all.

Comet Ison should be a great show and I may post some photos of that one after I pier mount my maksutov cassegrain. They will be amateur at best but thats okay with me.

[Drake]

The Kessler Effect has been proven to be an incredibly unlikely, pretty much impossible scenario. Not enough crap, too much space.

As a field artillery soldier once said, "Little bullet, big sky"

[Syn7]

As a field artillery soldier once said, "Little bullet, big sky"


That's awesome.


A bit of an understatement in this case though...

[GoldenBrain]

The Kessler Effect has been proven to be an incredibly unlikely, pretty much impossible scenario. Not enough crap, too much space.

As a field artillery soldier once said, "Little bullet, big sky"


I'm definitely not saying it IS going to happen. I just wanted to provide you links where the discussion is taking place. It's nice to know the Kessler Effect has been discounted so I shall now search for that info. If you happen to have links to the research to speed things up for me it'd be most appreciated.

I love the quote!

[Drake]

I'm definitely not saying it IS going to happen. I just wanted to provide you links where the discussion is taking place. It's nice to know the Kessler Effect has been discounted so I shall now search for that info. If you happen to have links to the research to speed things up for me it'd be most appreciated.

I love the quote!

I can't actually disclose most of what I know. However, Wikipedia talks about it in depth.

[GoldenBrain]

I can't actually disclose most of what I know. However, Wikipedia talks about it in depth.

I can respect that.

This has turned out to be a much more interesting subject than I had imagined. In my search I've learned about laser ablation and low earth orbit atmospheric drag amongst other things. Regarding the so called Kessler Syndrome, it appears that the vast amount of space in relation to our satellites combined with low earth orbit drag would make this scenario unlikely.

If that wasn't enough then the powers that be could bring out the laser ablation brooms or possibly some other exotic maybe even secret :eek: technologies for cleanup.

Okay, now back to my binoculars and telescope for some awe inspiring sight seeing... Well, after a cruse through the forums that is.

[Drake]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/cleaning-up-the-cosmos-swiss-develop-satellite-to-dispose-of-space-junk-a-815698.html

[GoldenBrain]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/cleaning-up-the-cosmos-swiss-develop-satellite-to-dispose-of-space-junk-a-815698.html

I like it. Maybe they could launch these little fellas with rail guns instead of rockets to keep the costs down.