[crazyshrink]

INCINERATION POSSIBLE - Fine points of the "fireball" that might be expected from an asteroid exploding in Earth's atmosphere are indicated in a supercomputer simulation devised by a team led by Sandia researcher Mark Boslough. (Photo by Randy Montoya )

[okie01]

“The asteroid that caused the extensive damage was much smaller than we had thought,” says Sandia principal investigator Mark Boslough...

Whereupon, he offers us 750 words -- without a single clue as to the asteroid's size, before or after the simulation.

[rellimpank]

--The new interpretation also accounts for the fact that winds were amplified above ridgelines where trees tended to be blown down, and that the forest at the time of the explosion, according to foresters, was not healthy. Thus previous scientific estimates had overstated the devastation caused by the asteroid, since topographic and ecologic factors contributing to the result had not been taken into account.--

--I suspect "garbage in, garbage out," still applies--

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

"You have been a participant in the biggest interdimensional cross rip since the Tunguska blast of 1909!"

[frithguild]

Simulations show that the material of an incoming asteroid is compressed by the increasing resistance of Earth’s atmosphere. As it penetrates deeper, the more and more resistant atmospheric wall causes it to explode as an airburst that precipitates the downward flow of heated gas.

[SunkenCiv]

Crack open a bottle of Bomb Perignon, because...

Smaller asteroids may pose greater danger than previously believed

That gets the Well-Duh award nomination for the week.

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[SunkenCiv]

One of the mags (could have been S&T, or Astronomy, or Science, or Nature, etc) had an article "The Big Fizzle Is Coming" -- basically an op-ed. Jupiter will just gulp it down, and there won't be so much as a disturbance of its cloud tops. Instead, each of the impactors left visible impact craters which remained for months, despite what is widely thought to be Jupiter's gaseous composition.

The Horrendous Space Kablooey at Jupiter
(the fate of comet Shoemaker Levy 9)
by Paul Schenk and Julie Moses
Shoemaker-Levy 9, LPIB, August 1994, Number 72

When astronomers on seven continents aimed every available telescope and instrument at Jupiter during the week of July 16, there were many predictions, ranging from "The Big Fizzle" to major impacts, to the disruptions of personal horoscopes and other catastrophes (Ice Ages) here on Earth. Although the magnitude of the damage done to Jupiter came as a pleasant surprise, equally surprising to scientists was that the event had actually produced visible results.

[VOA]

bump

[SunkenCiv]

Scientists say asteroid may hit Mars in late January
(1 in 75 chance on Jan. 30, 2008)
AP on Examiner.com | 12/20/07 | Alicia Chang - AP
Posted on 12/20/2007 9:27:00 PM EST by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1942591/posts

[ValerieTexas]

Is that an inkblot?

[SunkenCiv]

SIBERIA METEORITE FLATTENS 40 SQ MILES
The Times | 7 June 2003 | Robin Shepherd
Posted on 06/09/2003 5:25:21 PM PDT by Mike Darancette
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/926025/posts