Stadium-sized asteroid heading to Earth this week

[RandySF]

ST. LOUIS – NASA is keeping tabs on a massive asteroid that’s coming closer to Earth each day. The space agency has an asteroid watch section of its website showing the next 5 approaches, which are all in the next few days.

The largest is estimated to be 1,100 feet wide, approximately the size of a football stadium. That one, named 2002 NN4, would come the closest to Earth on June 6. However, scientists don’t expect there to be a collision on Earth. It’s closest approach will be 3,160,000 miles from Earth.

There are three others the size of a plane and one the size of a house also making their way to earth over the next few days. Scientists also don’t believe there are any concerns from those asteroids either. The closest one is expected to come within 1,830,000 miles of earth later today.



https://wgno.com/news/stadium-sized-asteroid-heading-to-earth-this-week/?taid=5ed841b74b7b8500011e96f3&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

[Squinch]

1. Because of course it is.

[Maru Kitteh]

5. 2020 baby. The gift the won't quit the fuck giving.

[Squinch]

8. Lol!

[Initech]

14. I feel like we're in that alternate timeline from Back To The Future.

Where somewhere, something went horribly, horribly wrong and we're stuck in a nightmare reality that is nothing like the reality we should be living in. Now to go invent the Flux Capacitor...

[denem]

49. 11.22.63

[Blue_true]

23. Yeah, any other year, I wouldn't be worried.

Maybe this year will finally be the End Times, hell, it's been predicted enough for past years.

[lindysalsagal]

30. 2020: Written by Stephen King, directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Saw it on bookface

[flying rabbit]

40. Best reply ever.

[Hekate]

2. I think we are accumulating plagues past the original 10

[SiliconValley_Dem]

3. who you gonna call? SPACE FORCE

[DrToast]

4. Oh thank god

Let's just get this over with.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

6. I know the feeling! 😱

[Squinch]

11. .

[yardwork]

17. ....

[onenote]

7. Because asteroids within 2-3 million miles are "coming to earth"

To put this in perspective, the moon is 239,000 miles away.

On November 8, 2011, an asteroid that was 1,180 ft in diameter, passed within 201,700 miles of Earth.

[dweller]

19. THAT'S TOO DAMN CLOSE !1!

we need A space wall, or space net or can we just attach an anchor to the Moon
to keep it there ???


✌🏼

[Cirque du So-What]

20. Make the Martians pay for it

[scarletwoman]

42. Ha!

[Hortensis]

48. My thought! Perspective is terrifying instead of reassuring.

(Thanks for useful information, Onenote.)

[Blue_true]

26. The Moon is tidal locked to Earth. That is a different animal totally.

My guess. We won't know for sure unless one of those asteroids continues to approach - that would indicate that a celestial dynamic has changed.

BTW, one of MARS' moons is slowly getting closer to that planet and will eventually collide with it. I suspect that our moon, over billions of years, has gotten closer to Earth and will one day in the very distant future become an asteroid that strikes Earth. The MARS moon altitude change is noticeable because it is happening very fast in geoplanetary terms.

[Sympthsical]

34. It's the opposite for our moon.

Due to tidal forces with the oceans, the moon is moving away from us. About four centimeters per year. It could eventually stabilize or escape our orbit. But by the time that’d happen, the sun will be all done.

Our lunar buddy will be with us til the end.

Edit: when it first formed, the moon was much, much, much closer to earth. Like ten hour orbits. That must’ve been hell in the oceans. The tides would’ve been daily tidal waves.

[Blue_true]

39. The Earth was nothing but water at a point early in it's existence.

It may be difficult to say our moon is moving away from us, it's motion can be part of a pattern that takes hundreds of thousands of years or even millions of years to fully develop - so measurements that are made are not even snapshots in time. The moon that is getting closer to MARS is doing that in real time, so that pattern is highly measurable and the end result predictable.

One thing that may be happening now with Earth can be used as an illustration of why we can't really predict what our moon is doing vis a vis distance from Earth, outside of solar driven effects on it's orbit. The magnetic field of Earth is weakening over one area on Earth, true North and true South have also shifted. One theory of what is happening is that the Earth is undergoing polar inversion, a process that takes something like around 300,000-400,000 years. If our instruments are fine enough, maybe we can detect that an inversion is happening as I write, most likely, all we will see are extremely fine but continuous changes in positional strength of the magnetosphere and changes to the poles, things that seem to be happening.

[Sympthsical]

44. It's the physics of the ocean

Due to earth’s relatively fast rotation vs the moon’s relatively slow orbit, the water/tidal interaction wants to drag the moon faster along with it. It’s a rather minor tug in the scheme of things, but it is a measurable tug. This accelerates the moon, creating a faster orbit that pushes it slightly away from us. We’ve been measuring the moon’s distance with lasers for decades, and it’s been consistently 4cm per year. It’s because we have so much liquid that this happens. Mars has no liquid, so its moons aren’t getting the acceleration. Once they’re in the Roche limit, they’re toast.

I definitely think polar inversion is in the cards for us relatively “soon”. We’re pretty overdue for one compared to the intervals of the past.

The weakening magnetosphere is a super interesting mystery. Especially because it’s happening so rapidly. I’ll be curious to see what theories science comes up with in the next decade to account for it. Polar inversion is a fairly slow process like you said. But it’s deteriorating at lightning speed at the moment. I do wonder how the sun is involved. A lot of people have been thinking we may see another Maunder Minimum this century. Maybe something to do with it?

Although we should pray for a MM. it could save our bacon a bit with global warming. Maybe buy us another century to get our mess under control.

[muriel_volestrangler]

51. It's well accepted the Moon used to be a lot closer, with a shorter period, and the current increase

in distance can be measured, by timing the reflections of laser beams off the instruments Apollo left behind.

Was it something we said? While our two celestial bodies remain locked in orbit, the moon is slowly — very slowly — inching away from Earth, at a rate of about 3.8 cm a year. Right now the moon is more than 238,000 miles from Earth, but when it formed, it was just 14,000 miles away.

How do scientists know? The moon's distance is measured by bouncing laser beams off reflectors on the moon's surface that astronauts from the Apollo missions left behind. Scientists can measure the time it takes for the laser beams to travel there and back and calculate the distance with a high degree of accuracy. Eventually, the moon's distance will substantially weaken the oceans' tides and total eclipses of the sun won't be possible for observers on Earth, since the moon will have moved too far away. But that could still take another billion years.

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1929328_1929325_1929310,00.html

It is thought that the Moon was formed when a proto-planet about the size of Mars collided with the early Earth around 4.5bn years ago. The debris left over from impact coalesced to form the Moon. Computer simulations of such an impact are consistent with the Earth Moon system we see in the 21st Century.

The simulations also imply that at the time of its formation, the Moon sat much closer to the Earth - a mere 22,500km (14,000 miles) away, compared with the quarter of a million miles (402,336 km) between the Earth and the Moon today.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12311119

The end result for the Martian moon Phobos is that, since it's already so close, it'll get closer, and then get ripped apart by tidal forces:

The Moon formed billions of years ago when a Mars-sized object crashed into Earth and sprayed material into orbit. This material pulled back together from mutual gravity to form the Moon, and this debris received a gravitational slingshot from the Earth.

They key is that the material was tossed into a high enough orbit, above what’s known as the synchronous orbit. This is where the Moon completes an orbit slower than the Earth takes to rotate once. Since the Moon ended up higher than this orbit, it’s spiraling outward. If its orbit was less than the length of a day, it would spiral inward.

And this is what has happened to Phobos. It orbits below this synchronous orbit, where it completes an orbit around Mars faster than the planet itself turns. It’s spiraling inward instead of outward.

Once Phobos gets down to an altitude of only 7000 km above the center of Mars (or 3,620 km above its surface), it will enter what’s known as the Roche limit. At this point, the tidal forces of Mars will tear Phobos apart, turning it into a ring that will continue to spiral into Mars. According to Dr. Sharma, this will happen in only 7.6 million years from now.

https://www.universetoday.com/14258/phobos-might-only-have-10-million-years-to-live/

[Blue_true]

53. You explained that the moon is currently moving away. My argument is that

because the measurement is made over a inconsequential timeframe relative to galaxial or even solar system time, there is absolutely no way of saying that the motion away isn't something more than a minor hitch in a much larger and longer term movement.

[muriel_volestrangler]

54. We also know that the Earth used to spin quicker; tides have transferred some of its

angular momentum to the Moon, which has moved further out. This is known from fossils - see https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-rotation-summer-solstice/ or https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/Grade35/6Page58.pdf . As I said, this isn't just a guess by someone; all scientists agree on it.

[Blue_true]

55. I agree that the Earth once spun faster. That fact isn't

out of line with how the planet firmed and changed in time. The Earth was once a rapidly spinning fireball, as it cooled, it underwent geochemical changes that affected both it's basic shape and it's spin speed, and I argue, it's revolution around the Sun.

All Astrophysicists and Astronomers once thought that stars could not grow beyond a certain mass, their simulations confirmed that conclusion. But the Hubble has found stars that are 1,000 times, or more, more massive than once thought possible.

Look, I am not some flat-Earth dumbass that blocks out facts and reason. But I do know that outside of ironclad proof (like photographic evidence showing that the Earth is essentially round with some Equatorial budge), scientific beliefs change as more information is gathered, Space Science is one of those areas where it changes fairly frequently, what was conventional wisdom that "all" scientists accepted gets way-laid by new discoveries.

[muriel_volestrangler]

56. Well, no, it's not geochemical changes that change the rotation speed. As NASA says,

and everyone else, it's the tidal interaction with the Moon. Geochemical changes can't alter angular momentum like that. It's physics, not chemistry.

[Blue_true]

57. Depends upon how you view the source of angular momentum.

You will likely call upon primordial inertia. Hold that thought while you endeavor to explain the retrograde orbits of Venus and Uranus, while both still follow a linear pattern of orbit speed with distance from the Sun. I won't go into them because they are complicated, but at least they theories that I buy into explain how all of that can happen, along with why Earth's spin speed and orbit speed has changed over billions of years, it also explains why stars that are much more massive than "conventitional" scientists thought possible can exist in this Universe.

[applegrove]

9. Locusts, plague, economic collapse, ... meteors. Thank god for the social

Last edited Wed Jun 3, 2020, 11:25 PM - Edit history (1)

upheaval in the US and around the world on race, or i would be terribly upset. I am hopeful instead. A mountain has been moved.

[Jamastiene]

31. Don't forget the vampire monkeys in India that stole the Covid blood samples.

murder hornets
Lindsey Graham's new hairdo

[applegrove]

35. I had forgotten murder hornets. Having stepped on a regular hornet nest,

i can attest to the danger of species. But still i am so hopefull that the US is woke on race. And no, the magnetic north pole switching to the south is not going to change my optimism.

[lordsummerisle]

10. It's a sensationalistic headline

suggesting that the object is heading for earth. It's heading for our vicinity and will safely pass by over 3 million miles.

[onenote]

18. Yes but that won't stop some folks from acting like it's a big deal.

As asteroid encounters go it’s a nothing burger.

[ProfessorGAC]

47. Also, It's Pretty Small

So nearly zero gravitational effect.
Nothing burger describes it aptly.

[Blue_true]

37. Actually, we really don't know what those asteroids will do yet.

If they stay a certain distance away, then we will know that the passes are no issue. But if they come within a specific distance where the Earth's residual gravitational field can influence them, or the Sun's influence on them become stronger, then they could be headed for a collision with us.

I am a adherent of the theory that an un-modeled force exists in this Universe. That force keeps celestial bodies apart. It degrades in time like magnetism, once it falls below a given value, the pull of gravity from another body pulls it in for an eventual collision. There are physical elements in our solar system and Galaxy that appear to suport such a theory. For example, Venus and Uranus have retrograde orbits - the theory is that powerful collisions caused their orbits to be opposite other planets, the issue with such a theory is that it doesn't explain why Venus revolves around the Sun faster than all planets farther from the Sun than it is and why that revolutionary order follows a uniform pattern. The theory doesn't explain why Uranus revolves around the Sun slower than any planet closer to the Sun than it. But the action of a force that is dependent on distance from the Sun and inter-planetary interaction would explain the orbits of Venus and Uranus and explain why Uranus spins on it's side. In the Galaxy, stars are being created, yet they follow a predictable revolutionary path around Sag A and stay in the spiral arm that they formed in - in addition, the spiral arms stay a distance apart as they revolve around Sag A.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

12. Variety is the spice of life.

Can Space Force modify it's arrival time to be perfectly timed with Yellowstone?


After all, America needs better and more exciting entertainment......

[C_U_L8R]

13. Can we just get a sharknado and get it over with.

What the fuuuuck.

[NCjack]

15. It's coming for MFer-#45. He can hide, but it will find him. nt

[milestogo]

16. Trumpy will have to go back to the bunker.

[Renew Deal]

21. I've got plenty of TP

[Jamastiene]

28. Just like my luck.

I finally got some more TP and now this.

I still haven't used my Trump stimulus autographed campaign letter yet though. So, I haven't completely been out of TP yet. I had it earmarked as a last resort.

[Mickju]

22. Just a matter of time.

[budkin]

24. Might as well hit us

And put an end to the madness of humanity.

[Cal Carpenter]

25. That headline reminds me of when me and a friend would 'head to Chicago'

Which meant we would get stoned and drive around listening to music. We called it that because it usually involved driving west on I-94 from the Detroit area. Heading to Chicago, lol. Never went further than Jackson or so. Teenagers. We thought we were hilarious.

[Jamastiene]

27. 2020 just made 2016 look like an amateur.

Wow, what a year. I won't ask what's next because I don't want to jinx us any more than we already are.

[Yavin4]

29. After the meteor hit...after the huge plume of ash and soot that covered the earth plunging it...

...into darkness...as plants started to die...as mankind faced extinction...a cry was heard.....


"BUT HER EMAILS!!!""

[grantcart]

32. We need a large lighted arrow pointing at Mar A Lago

[Jamastiene]

36. THIS

[applegrove]

38. A three mile high dancing baloon man at Mar a Lago would work too.

https://images.app.goo.gl/Qw4ENRVEYg8L2LYRA

[GulfCoast66]

33. 2020. The year that can't catch a break!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

41. Meh. Not even close. Do you understand how far outside the orbit of the Moon that is?

My Son the Astronomer tells me that the chance of an actual impact with our planet is extremely low, according to those who actually track these things.

Here's one chart: https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/

If you want to try to figure out all the math, it winds up with essentially a zero chance of any known asteroid crashing into our planet within the next several thousand years.

Meanwhile, something that is far outside the orbit of the Moon is a giant yawn.

[coti]

43. 3+ million miles- the earth's diameter is about 8,000 miles.

If the Earth was the size of a basketball, a little less than ten inches, this is the equivalent of something like a tiny grain of sand passing by that basketball not quite a city block away- about 500 feet.

[eShirl]

45. attention Ms./Mr. Asteroid: Merde-a-gogo is that-a-way ----

[leftyladyfrommo]

46. That would be the perfect end to a perfect week. nt

[MineralMan]

50. It's not coming TO Earth. It's flying PAST Earth.

The closest one will be almost 2 million miles away. You won't even be able to see it with the naked eye.

Sensationalist Garbage Reporting.

[Initech]

52. Fires, viruses, floods, riots, murder hornets, blood monkeys, earthquakes, now asteroids...

Come on, 2020, what else ya got??? We can take it!