Posted on 09/19/2019 10:46:51 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The asteroid, called "2019 OK," passed about 40,400 miles above Earth's surface roughly 5 times closer to Earth than the moon at 55,000 miles per hour and could have "created localized devastation to an area roughly 50 miles across" if it struck land, according to a NASA news release.
"An asteroid of this size coming this close to Earth is a pretty rare event on the order of about twice a century," according to Paul Chodas, manager of NASAs Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at JPL.
(Excerpt) Read more at axios.com ...
Thanks fieldmarshaldj for the ping, and BenLurkin for posting the topic.
|
three earlier topics about 2019OK:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/2019ok/index
BTW, various rocks have probably been near-missing (or not missing) Earth for billions of years, we just know about them now. Not in time, but at least we know about them afterward. :^)
Right?? Theyre like one big disaster magnet!
Meh. I never worry about what I cant control. You shouldnt either. Eventually...someone is gonna take a fastball (meteor) to the face. Its just a matter of when.
Also...from https://archive.briankoberlein.com/2015/12/15/is-earth-gaining-mass-or-losing-mass/index.html
Earth gains mass through dust and meteorites that are captured by its gravity. If you watched the recent meteor shower you know this can occur on a regular basis. In fact from satellite observations of meteor trails its estimated that about 100 300 metric tons (tonnes) of material strikes Earth every day. That adds up to about 30,000 to 100,000 tonnes per year. That might seem like a lot, but over a million years that would only amount to less than a billionth of a percent of Earths total mass.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.