Earthlings test warning system as asteroid flies by

[webfact]

Earthlings test warning system as asteroid flies by

 

The pass of a dangerously-sized asteroid to Earth on Thursday, just outside manmade satellite orbits, was used to test early warning systems after a similarly-sized object caused widespread damage in Siberia in 2013.

 

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - An asteroid the size of a school bus flew remarkably near Earth on Thursday, providing scientists with an opportunity to test the warning systems that would kick in if a space collision was coming.

 

Asteroid 2012 TC4 came close -- passing Earth at a distance of only around 44,000 km (27,000 miles), which is nothing in Universe terms.

 

There was no actual risk of a hit, although the asteroid did come well inside the orbit of the Moon and that of some human-made satellites.

 

"Basically, we pretended that this is a 'critical' object with a high risk of impacting Earth ... and exercised our communication channels and used telescopes and radar systems for observations," Detlef Koschny of European Space Agency said in a blog post on the agency's website.

 

The results were mixed.

 

Koschny said one big radar system in Puerto Rico did not work due to damage from Hurricane Maria but that another U.S. based radar system was used instead.

 

"This is exactly why we do this exercise – to not be surprised by these things," he said.

 

Radar images showed the asteroid was about 10 to 12 metres (yards) wide, roughly the size of an asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013, leaving more than 1,000 people injured by flying glass and debris.

 

Koschny said the ESA now needed to update its predictions for how close 2012 TC4 will come to Earth on its next flyby, which has so far been forecast for 2079.

 

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-10-13

[tonray]

Let's just string a fish net from satellites and try to catch it !

[Scott]

5 minutes ago, tonray said:

Let's just string a fish net from satellites and try to catch it !

OK, and once you catch it, just what will you do with it?

[tonray]

12 minutes ago, Scott said:

OK, and once you catch it, just what will you do with it?

I'm American so I guess we'll go to war with it ? 

[Scott]

2 minutes ago, tonray said:

I'm American so I guess we'll go to war with it ? 

Tonray will have the biggest pet rock in the world!   At least you won't have to worry about anybody coming by and stealing it!

 

[tonray]

2 minutes ago, Scott said:

Tonray will have the biggest pet rock in the world!   At least you won't have to worry about anybody coming by and stealing it!

 

Well first we'll sell shares of it on Wall Street to get our money's worth....ha ha. 

[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, Scott said:

OK, and once you catch it, just what will you do with it?

At 7.6 km/sec you go where it goes.

[Dumbastheycome]

If  the  system  relies  on   data  that  gives   50/50  odds  on  impact  the   Bookies  will  have  a  field day ! Identical  odds  on  spending  the   profits  ! lol

[hawker9000]

It's the near-apocalypse of the day I guess.  Tomorrow's is the super-volcano getting ready to erupt under Yellowstone that's going to wipe out all life on earth.

 

 

 

[GOLDBUGGY]

On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 4:23 PM, Srikcir said:

At 7.6 km/sec you go where it goes.

Great! Nice to know we spend so much money on an early warning system like this, so we have an extra 15 minutes to say our goodbyes.

[Guest]

On 13/10/2017 at 8:35 AM, Scott said:

OK, and once you catch it, just what will you do with it?

I'd keep it on orbit to be further studied. Where it came from, what kind of atomic compounds does it hold. In general to study what's it made of. 

We have a lot of theoretical studies how our Universe is created and how the elements, we all have build from are made. We don't really have proof of anything. 

That little piece of rock and ice could give us further glues, what's our origin. Which would be nice.

[Guest]

59 minutes ago, oilinki said:

I'd keep it on orbit to be further studied. Where it came from, what kind of atomic compounds does it hold. In general to study what's it made of. 

We have a lot of theoretical studies how our Universe is created and how the elements, we all have build from are made. We don't really have proof of anything. 

That little piece of rock and ice could give us further glues, what's our origin. Which would be nice.

The funny part of physics is that we have have not really evolved further from where were were 110 years ago when Einstein created his first versions of E=mc2 theories and understanding how space and time are the same thing.

Since then, we have understood how small things we are in this Universe we are living in. We don't even know if the physics aka the rules of the world, work beyond of our solar system. 

Basically we know nothing. But we are pretty great of approximating, what might be out there. 

 

[ilostmypassword]

9 minutes ago, oilinki said:

The funny part of physics is that we have have not really evolved further from where were were 110 years ago when Einstein created his first versions of E=mc2 theories and understanding how space and time are the same thing.

Since then, we have understood how small things we are in this Universe we are living in. We don't even know if the physics aka the rules of the world, work beyond of our solar system. 

Basically we know nothing. But we are pretty great of approximating, what might be out there. 

 

Certainly particle physicists would massively and justifiably disagree with your characterization of the lack of progress in physics. And while Einstein did propose a fifth repellant force speeding up the expansion of the universe,  force he pretty quickly rejected it. Turns out, it's true. Same goes for black holes.

In theory we don't know if the laws of physics apply to portions of the universe that we haven't observed which is an area a lot bigger than just the solar system.  And no one has so far found any evidence that the laws don't apply.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Certainly particle physicists would massively and justifiably disagree with your characterization of the lack of progress in physics. And while Einstein did propose a fifth repellant force speeding up the expansion of the universe,  force he pretty quickly rejected it. Turns out, it's true. Same goes for black holes.

In theory we don't know if the laws of physics apply to portions of the universe that we haven't observed which is an area a lot bigger than just the solar system.  And no one has so far found any evidence that the laws don't apply.

What's the fifth repellant force you are talking about?

[ilostmypassword]

Just now, oilinki said:

What's the fifth repellant force you are talking about?

The one that's responsible for speeding up the expansion of the universe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_force

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

In theory we don't know if the laws of physics apply to portions of the universe that we haven't observed which is an area a lot bigger than just the solar system.  And no one has so far found any evidence that the laws don't apply.

Indeed. We have two, rather ancient probes, which have now reached the first, close edge, of our solar system. The Voyager probes send us some data, while still being inside of our own Sun's playground. 

We really don't have a glue what physics rules are beyond our solar system. Do you disagree? If so, why?

[ilostmypassword]

Just now, oilinki said:

Indeed. We have two, rather ancient probes, which have now reached the first, close edge, of our solar system. The Voyager probes send us some data, while still being inside of our own Sun's playground. 

We really don't have a glue what physics rules are beyond our solar system. Do you disagree? If so, why?

Nothing astrophysicists have observed contradicts those rules of physics. Stars and gases outside the solar system conform to the rules of physics just the same as objects in the solar system do.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

The one that's responsible for speeding up the expansion of the universe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_force

Interesting, yet speculative even on wikipage. How do you see it?

[ilostmypassword]

Just now, oilinki said:

Interesting, yet speculative even on wikipage. How do you see it?

Well, they certainly don't know for sure what's causing it, but whatever it is, it was at best briefly posited by Einstein and then dismissed by him. So physicists know that there is something out there that wasn't seriously considered before.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Nothing astrophysicists have observed contradicts those rules of physics. Stars and gases outside the solar system conform to the rules of physics just the same as objects in the solar system do.

That's true. Yet, our experience, the location where we have seen everything we know, has been from one spot in the universe. 

I don't know if the physics are different beyond the gravitation and solar pressure fields of our Sun, but I'm eager to wonder if it could be the case.. and what the alternatives could eventually be.

[ilostmypassword]

Just now, oilinki said:

That's true. Yet, our experience, the location where we have seen everything we know, has been from one spot in the universe. 

I don't know if the physics are different beyond the gravitation and solar pressure fields of our Sun, but I'm eager to wonder if it could be the case.. and what the alternatives could eventually be.

Keep in mind that planets have been observed rotating around stars in exactly the configuration that the laws of gravity say they should.

[swissie]

Only the size of a schoolbus. Once a "biggie" hits like 65 Mill years ago, the bars in Pattaya will have to close for "external-reasons", having nothing to do with "police-crackdowns".
Cheers.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, ilostmypassword said:

Keep in mind that planets have been observed rotating around stars in exactly the configuration that the laws of gravity say they should.

Gravitation seem to be same everywhere, at least close to home. Cesium atom's tick time (our atomic clocks) seems to be  bound to the gravitation field our planet creates. 

It's wrong to say that it's hard to travel the speed of light, as long as we don't have a reference point. Until that, we all travel at random speeds. 

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Keep in mind that planets have been observed rotating around stars in exactly the configuration that the laws of gravity say they should.

That's Copernicus way of thinking. Step up your game  :)