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Awesome Radar Images Reveal Asteroid 2014 HQ124′s Split Personality
universetoday.com/ ^
| June 12, 2014
| Bob King on
Posted on 06/12/2014 2:01:24 PM PDT by BenLurkin
On June 8, the 370-meter (about 1,300-ft.) asteroid 2014 HQ124 breezed by Earth at a distance of just 800,000 miles (1.3 million km). Only hours after closest approach, astronomers used a pair of radio telescopes to produce some of the most detailed images of a near-Earth asteroid ever obtained. They reveal a peanut-shaped world called a contact binary, an asteroid comprised of two smaller bodies touching.
About one in six asteroids in the near-Earth population has this type of elongated or peanut shape. Its thought that contact binaries form when two or more asteroids get close enough to touch and stick together through their mutual gravitational attraction. Asteroid 25143 Itokawa, visited and sampled by the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa in 2005, is another member of this shapely group.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
TOPICS: Astronomy
KEYWORDS: 2014hq124; 25143itokawa; catastrophism; contactbinary
Radar delay-Doppler images of asteroid 2014 HQ124. Arecibo Observatory images appear on the top row and Goldstone images appear on the other rows: the larger Arecibo Observatory capabilities eliminated the snow visible in the other images. Credit: Marina Brozovic and Joseph Jao, JPL- Caltech/ NASA/ USRA/ Arecibo Observatory/ NSF
A single radar image frame close-up view of 2014 HQ124. Credit: NASA
1
posted on
06/12/2014 2:01:24 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
2
posted on
06/12/2014 2:02:10 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
(This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
To: SunkenCiv
You might find this of interest
3
posted on
06/12/2014 2:10:21 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
(This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
To: BenLurkin
The only estimate of its size is “370 meters,” but they don’t say whether that is across it’s long - or short - axis. For comparison, the length of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan is 333 meters.
The HQ124 Wiki page states that it would release (an estimated) 2000 MT of energy if it struck Earth, and leave a crater three miles in diameter.
HQ124 is not expected to come this close to Earth again until the year 2307, at the earliest.
4
posted on
06/12/2014 2:13:28 PM PDT
by
Steely Tom
(How do you feel about robbing Peter's robot?)
To: Steely Tom
“...it would release (an estimated) 2000 MT of energy if it struck Earth, and leave a crater three miles in diameter.”
What’s the diameter of Washington DC?
To: BenLurkin
6
posted on
06/12/2014 2:24:22 PM PDT
by
FredZarguna
(Das ist nicht nur nicht richtig, es ist nicht einmal falsch!)
To: BenLurkin
How is it composed of two smaller binary’s touching? Looks like one rock to me.
7
posted on
06/12/2014 2:26:59 PM PDT
by
Beowulf9
To: FredZarguna
So THAT'S what my professor meant when he said it is a vacuum in space!
8
posted on
06/12/2014 2:27:39 PM PDT
by
21twelve
(http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts 2013 is 1933 REBORN)
To: BenLurkin
*Correction.
Not Binary’s, Bodies.
9
posted on
06/12/2014 2:27:54 PM PDT
by
Beowulf9
To: FredZarguna
To: Gadsden1st
The vacuum cleaner is a mechanical Gödel Statement: When it sucks, it doesn't suck. And when it doesn't suck, it sucks.
11
posted on
06/12/2014 3:29:05 PM PDT
by
FredZarguna
(Das ist nicht nur nicht richtig, es ist nicht einmal falsch!)
To: 21twelve
And now we have the smoking gun ... er .. dustbuster.
12
posted on
06/12/2014 3:29:59 PM PDT
by
FredZarguna
(Das ist nicht nur nicht richtig, es ist nicht einmal falsch!)
To: BenLurkin
How does a radar image of something pick up lighting and shadows?
13
posted on
06/13/2014 6:58:06 AM PDT
by
hattend
(Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
To: hattend
14
posted on
06/13/2014 8:49:34 AM PDT
by
BenLurkin
(This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
To: BenLurkin
It is shaped too much like a gun. The lawdogs must address this breech of political correctness!
15
posted on
06/13/2014 8:53:17 AM PDT
by
MHGinTN
To: BenLurkin; 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; ...
Definitely of interest, thanks BenLurkin!
16
posted on
06/13/2014 5:26:42 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: hattend
The closer to perpendicular the surface, the brighter it will appear on radar.
17
posted on
06/13/2014 5:28:23 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: SunkenCiv
Then the part that looks like sun reflection would be darker. I guess they reversed the image.
18
posted on
06/13/2014 5:56:49 PM PDT
by
hattend
(Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
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