Small Asteroid Passes Between Satellites and Earth

Captain Kidd · #1 (**permalink**) 22-December-2004, 07:27 PM

I couldn't find this here so I don't think I've been toseeked, guess we'll see.

Quote:

Astronomers spotted an asteroid this week after it had flown past Earth on a course that took it so close to the planet it was below the orbits of some satellites.

The space rock was relatively small, however, and would not have posed any danger had it plunged into the atmosphere.

The object, named 2004 YD5, was about 16 feet (5 meters) wide, though that's a rough estimate based on its distance and assumed reflectivity. Had it entered the atmosphere, it would have exploded high up, experts figure.

[snip]

The asteroid passed just under the orbits of geostationary satellites, which at 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) altitude are the highest manmade objects circling Earth. Most other satellites, along with the International Space Station, circle the planet at just a few hundred miles up.

01101001 · #2 (**permalink**) 22-December-2004, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Kidd

I couldn't find this here so I don't think I've been toseeked, guess we'll see.

See?

Evan · #3 (**permalink**) 22-December-2004, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Had it entered the atmosphere, it would have exploded high up, experts figure.

Unless it was a stony iron or nickel iron which together comprise about 25% of asteroids. That would be big enough to ruin your day if it fell closeby.

Drakheim · #4 (**permalink**) 22-December-2004, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan

Unless it was a stony iron or nickel iron which together comprise about 25% of asteroids. That would be big enough to ruin your day if it fell closeby.

Yea, the Simple but fairly accurate Solar System Collisions page says it would be a Siberian type even that releases just a tad more energy than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Evan · #5 (**permalink**) 22-December-2004, 10:08 PM

I sense a "let's not panic the peons" going on here. That was a very near miss and there is squat we can do about it.

toolazytotypemyname · #6 (**permalink**) 23-December-2004, 12:25 AM

There was some Bad Astronomy in the article from Space.com that was on Yahoo!.

Story Here

Quote:

It soared over Antarctica -- underneath the planet, Washington State University researcher Pasquale Tricarico told the Asteroid/Comet Connection.

[emphasis added by me]

I guess I've been reading this website too much. I finally noticed something like this in print. And it looks like I'm the first one to post it. Or have I been ToSeeked as well?

eddited to fix the url because it was too long to display properly.

ops:

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