Will Comet Ison coming though the asteroid belt, shove us to Defcon Two or One?

[truedelphi]

For those of you who are following the travels of Comet Ison, you may have noticed how this comet impacted several asteroids over the last two days. The comet hit many asteroids, and some of those were able to go on and enter our atmosphere. Those asteroids went on to hit our planet. (Most were about the size of a baseball, or smaller.)

The heavenly activities of Comet Ison are going to continue, and if initial science reports are to be believed, the results will end up being more spectacular as time goes on.

The next twelve months are critical in terms of the interplay between the comet, the asteroids it deflects into our atmosphere, and all of that.

Big Problem for earthlings and other sentient life that occupy the planet - on account of sequestration, the Air Force Space Surveillance Center is scheduled to shut down, just as the spectacular asteroid activity is heating up.

Now please note: my concern is not that a huge asteroid is about to get deflected into our atmosphere and hit the planet, obliterating all life. The projected sizes of the asteroids that might be "doomed" to enter our atmosphere are not a problem.

What is a problem is that without such a Surveillance Center up and operating, and with tension still existing between the USA and Russia, do we want to risk not having the safety advantages of the surveillance center?

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Where are you getting this information about ISON hitting asteroids

and those asteroids entering our atmosphere?

[truedelphi]

6. Info I am getting about the fact that

Comet Ison hit asteroids and they entered our atmosphere over the last 72 hours came to me through my YouTube account.

Now that, I would admit, is not totally reliable.

Here are two sources - the first being for overall info on Comet Ison, and the second being about how it will deflect space debris, meteors, and break up asteroids, all of which could hit us by January of 2014:


NASA video on Comet Ison:

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Off Discovery:
http://news.discovery.com/space/asteroids-meteors-meteorites/comet-ison-meteors-earth-130423.htm






A small but incredibly bright comet heading toward the sun could do more than dazzle Earth’s skies when it arrives later this year. Scientists say Comet ISON, already shedding dust at the prodigious rate of about 112,000 pounds per minute, could spark an unusual meteor shower.

Computer simulations predicting the location and movement of the comet’s dust trail show Earth will be passing through the fine-grained stream around Jan. 12, 2014.

Some of the particles, which are smaller in diameter than a red blood cell, should be pushed back by the pressure of sunlight, allowing them to be captured by Earth’s gravity when the planet plows through the largely invisible stream.

PHOTOS: Close Encounters with Comets

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Incoming ISON to be Dazzling Daytime Comet?
Newly Found Comet Could Outshine the Moon

[DavidDvorkin]

8. The meteor showers resulting from some comets are not due to asteroids the comets have hit

They are debris left over from the comet itself, and the pieces of debris are very small.

If ISON had been colliding with asteroids, that would have affected its orbit, and it also would have been very big astronomy news.

[Berlum]

2. Thanks a pantload for sequestration, Republicons (R)

Republicon FAIL once again, as they leave America and the rest of the world defenseless.

[Earth_First]

3. Will the resulting impact trigger the Reptilian overlords to overthrow the government?

In turn forcing a United Nations decree in which the Cyborg Security Government will intervene?

[Skidmore]

4. Someone find Bruce Willis right effin' now!

[longship]

10. "Guys! It's time to embrace the horror."

Or, maybe Steve Buscemi.

This OP sounds like rubbish to me. Conspiracy kookery.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. can't really see that happening - comets are balls of ice and dust that are not all that large -

asteroids are typically quite a bit larger and most are in orbit between Mars and Jupiter and made of rock.

It is far less crowded out there than one would think....

Current thoughts are that the comet could be disappointing - it is two magnitudes fainter than expected to be at this point...the brightness of comets is extremely hard to predict.

[truedelphi]

9. Good to know, and thanks, but that still doesn't answer the larger concern -

How necessary is it for us to have the Air Force Space Surveillance Center up and running?

We are told that some space debris can enter the atmosphere, and if it is coming dead on, our astronomers can't see it until it is in the atmosphere. Does it not make us all safer to have a system in place to let various personnel in the military understand that "incoming" is only a flock of geese, or some space debris, rather than let the military try and figure it out?

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. there are probably countless amateur astronomers watching ISON and other heavenly bodies

all over the world - I understand what you are saying, but to tell the truth, I am far more concerned with what I am seeing here in the world, in our country - than anything coming at us from "out there"!

[truedelphi]

12. You. Are. Missing. My. Point.

My point is not that some big scarey comet or meteor is on a dead on collision course with the planet, and that the astronomers won't see it till we are all kablooie.

No, my point is that if sequestration shuts down the Air Force Space Surveillance Center, then the military will not be getting an advisory that tells them important information. Information that states, "Hey, later today, there will be 'incoming' that is not "incoming" from a hostile nation, but instead, space debris."

I remember back in the Seventies or Eighties that we almost went to Defcon One over a flock of geese flying over Alaska, and putting a shadow across the moon.

[NRaleighLiberal]

13. No, I get the point - I am just not even a teeny bit concerned about it....

other fish to fry, in my view. In fact, it is probably on the very bottom of my personal concern list!

(if something like that happens, there really is nothing to be done...I will just head for my wine cellar and go out in style!)

[Art_from_Ark]

15. Professional astronomers will be able to track and predict the path of this comet

Like this imagery from NASA

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/comet_ison/

And here's what NASA says about the comet's approach to Earth:

"If one only looked at the top-down view, it looks like the comet passes close to the Earth around the end of December, but the view from the side shows that this is not really the case."

[gordianot]

7. It could hit Mars, roughly 37,000 mile miss according to current models.

The problem with comets as they heat up the trajectory changes as gas jets form. A hit on Mars could create a large asteroid debris field with the largest known comet strike on any planet. Think in terms of a thousand mile crater possible but improbable by October 19. As to havoc among asteroids who knows, a Mars strike would not be good.

[Posteritatis]

17. Geeze, calm down. It's a 5km snowball and it's not moving near lightspeed. (nt)

[gordianot]

18. At somewhere around 3 billion megatons.

You would be able to see it during daylight on Earth. Larger than the Shoemaker Levi comets that hit Jupiter.

[roamer65]

19. Sounds like you are talking about C/2013 A1 (siding spring)

It is extremely unlikely to hit Mars, but will pass very close to it in October 2014. It should be a good show from Earth. Mars will be in the evening sky at that time.

[darkangel218]

14. Nothing will happen.

[Posteritatis]

16. No. (nt)