Posted on 11/23/2019 1:05:25 PM PST by BenLurkin
Asteroids regularly make close approaches to Earth, and Nasa creates alerts for each one of these objects.
Sometimes several will even pass by in a single day – completely unnoticed by humanity.
For instance, four 'All Saints' asteroids skimmed past Earth on November 1, completely harmlessly.
Now Nasa has revealed that another asteroid is scheduled for an Earth fly-by on November 25.
The asteroid is called 2019 VF1, named because it was first discovered this year. It measures up to 492 feet (150 metres) across, and will skirt Earth at 4.09am UK time – or 11.09pm on Sunday in New York.
The asteroid will be travelling at a nippy 38,498mph (61,956km/h) – about 63 times faster than the top speed of a Boeing 747 jet.
Fortunately, this gigantic space rock will pass Earth with a very wide berth.
The asteroid is expected to come no closer than 3,172,582 miles (5,105,776km).
(Excerpt) Read more at thesun.co.uk ...
Gee, that’s only a dozen times the radius of the Moon’s orbit around Earth.
At 3 million miles away ... pfft ...
When you think about it, it is remarkable that so many asteroids pass within 5 to 10 million miles of earth. The earth’s orbital radius is 93 million miles. The earth orbits the sun in a plane, so any asteroid coming close to earth has to pass through our orbital plane AND be at the location where the earth is in its orbit. Almost all the bodies in the solar system travel in roughly the same orbital plane. Those with highly elliptical orbits, hyperbolic orbits, or highly inclined orbits can intersect the earth’s path.
Not that close but it’s just a matter of time before we take a hit.
While the size is meaningful, the remote likelihood of impact puts it in the white/"0" zone.
Move along people - Happy Thanksgiving!!
Tell us when to duck.
A much bigger satellite, 2000 miles diameter is SKIMMING past the earth RIGHT NOW, ONLY 240,000 miles away. PANIC!
And the Moon is 240,000 miles away. What matters is its path. Sensational headlines annoy me.
When they find one projected to pass within 75 feet of the Earth, then I’ll be concerned.
The do it that way purposely so you’ll read their drivel!
To me a skim would be like 10 miles.
Very true — but just gotta love the snarky comments.
Only two things wrong with that headline: Huge and Skim.
It’s the Sun. Their readers are about 4th grade bright... The ones who have to use Chapstick when they read. All that movement raises blisters.
and its already messing with the ocean tides!
Is it time to put out a tsunami warning with a silent “T”?
Almost close enough to mess up my hair. I’d better panic.
No, but I like your handle. Its a cool toy.
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