Is everybody asleep at the wheel here? Later today a bus sized asteroid is going to miss good ole earth by a mere 7,000 miles and I can't find any discussion about it. Amazing.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

Is everybody asleep at the wheel here? Later today a bus sized asteroid is going to miss good ole earth by a mere 7,000 miles and I can't find any discussion about it. Amazing.

By chance I found it hinted at in Cafe/Beets etc. and I was greeted as winner.But the timing was not right, it should pass over Antarctica at 13:30 UTC, that is 9:30 EDT or 15:30 CET. But a much bigger one should arrive on November 8.
Tullio

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Is everybody asleep at the wheel here? Later today a bus sized asteroid is going to miss good ole earth by a mere 7,000 miles and I can't find any discussion about it. Amazing.

Of course there is no talk about it. It exists and is well understood, and not some mythology.

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There'll likely be some 'talk' once it has whizzed past and we get some scientific comment on what was seen and learnt.


Now... If you can bolt a webcam to a telescope and track it whizzing by, especially catching the change of flight due to its slingshot around the Earth... Now that would generate some discussion! ;-)


Keep searchin',
Martin

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I was wondering if the change in trajectory will put it in a return pass in the not too distant future and/or what would the conditions have to be for it to be captured by the earth as another satellite.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

WOW! that is close!

it looks like our planet Earth just dodged an other bullet!

Asteroid 2011 MD, a chunk of rock estimated to be 20 to 65 feet (5 to 20 m) across, is expected to pass less than 8,000 miles above Earth's surface around 1 p.m. EDT (17:00 UT) on Monday, June 27th. The actual event will be observable only from South Africa and parts of Antarctica, but the approach will be visible across Australia, New Zealand, southern and eastern Asia, and the western Pacific.

here is a couble of links with more info:

Sky and Telescope
Discovery Magazine