Halloweeen Asteroid

Ugly thing. Thanks tullio. :)

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only way to be stay educated is to stay reading! ;)

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

I have a book by Fred Hoyle on the Cosmogony of the solar system, but it is dated 1978. Maybe something new has happened since then. I think the Dawn mission is very important, since Vesta and Ceres are very old objects. Also the New Horizons mission to Pluto and Charon may have taught something new.
Tullio

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Large Asteroid.

NASA: Asteroid to pass by Earth on Christmas Eve

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- That's not Rudolph's nose, it's just a giant rock hurtling through space. NASA scientists calculate that asteroid 163899, also known as 2003 SD220, will make its closest approach to Earth on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2015.

The asteroid is rather large, thought to measure between 0.5 and 1.5 miles wide. Contrary to reports that it will graze Earth or trigger earthquakes, the asteroid won't actually come all that close.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/12/15/NASA-Asteroid-to-pass-by-Earth-on-Christmas-Eve/8631450208628/

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Large Asteroid.

NASA: Asteroid to pass by Earth on Christmas Eve

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- That's not Rudolph's nose, it's just a giant rock hurtling through space. NASA scientists calculate that asteroid 163899, also known as 2003 SD220, will make its closest approach to Earth on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2015.

The asteroid is rather large, thought to measure between 0.5 and 1.5 miles wide. Contrary to reports that it will graze Earth or trigger earthquakes, the asteroid won't actually come all that close.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/12/15/NASA-Asteroid-to-pass-by-Earth-on-Christmas-Eve/8631450208628/

Another one to be "radar pinged" by Arecibo!
;)

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

Ugly looking asteroid.

Radar Images of a Christmas-Eve Asteroid: An Early Gift for Astronomers

Asteroid 2003 SD220 will safely fly past Earth on Dec. 24 at a distance of 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers). Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have generated the highest-resolution images to date of this asteroid using the Deep Space Network's 230-foot (70-meter) antenna at Goldstone, California. The radar images were acquired between Dec. 17 and Dec. 22, when the distance to this near-Earth object (NEO) was narrowing from 7.3 million miles (12 million kilometers) to almost the flyby distance.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/radar-images-of-a-christmas-eve-asteroid-an-early-gift-for-astronomers




These images of an asteroid that is at least 3,600 feet (1,100 meters) long were taken on Dec. 17, 2015, (left) and Dec. 22 (right) by scientists using NASA's 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California. This asteroid, named 2003 SD2020, will safely fly past Earth on Thursday, Dec. 24, at a distance of 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers). On Dec. 17, it was about 7.3 million miles (12 million kilometers) from Earth. By Dec. 22, it was closing in on its Christmas Eve flyby distance.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR

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NASA forms office to protect Earth from asteroids

NASA is taking a new step to help detect and track asteroids hurtling near Earth. The space agency announced the creation of a Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) to coordinate efforts.

The central office will manage all NASA-funded projects to detect, monitor and characterize asteroids and comets that pass near Earth's orbit. If an actual impact threat is detected, the office will also coordinate NASA's response with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasas-planetary-defense-coordination-office-will-protect-earth-from-asteroids/

Good!

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Exactly Rob. No asteroid is going to penetrate the Earth's crust and release lava, that is just nonsensical.

& don't forget that Earth is 2/3 of oceans...& the thickness is lower in oceans by few km... ;)

That information has already been posted. But as you obviously didn't read it, I'll reproduce it here.

The oceanic crust is 5 km (3 mi) to 10 km (6 mi) thick, and is composed primarily of basalt, diabase, and gabbro.

The continental crust is typically from 30 km (20 mi) to 50 km (30 mi) thick and is mostly composed of slightly less dense rocks than those of the oceanic crust.

More than just a "few Km".

Impacting on water is a more "interesting" problem - the depth of water is a critical factor...

Very much so, in terms of the resulting Tsunami.

How about a scenario where a moderate size asteroid hits earth in the Yellowstone caldera and prematurely triggers a super volcanic eruption. I know the possibility is nearly zero but it could happen.

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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.

NASA forms office to protect Earth from asteroids

NASA is taking a new step to help detect and track asteroids hurtling near Earth. The space agency announced the creation of a Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) to coordinate efforts.

The central office will manage all NASA-funded projects to detect, monitor and characterize asteroids and comets that pass near Earth's orbit. If an actual impact threat is detected, the office will also coordinate NASA's response with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasas-planetary-defense-coordination-office-will-protect-earth-from-asteroids/

Good!

that link about asteroids hurling towards Earth is BOGUS at least!

the article is about "space dust", actually to be exact "comet dust" which comes down to Earth...NEO is actually a database of all known asteroids which come close to Earth path around a Sun...& they are much more bigger than some "space dust" as in Gemini meteor shower...
;)

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

then pray to God that Yellowstone doesn't open up 'cause of asteroid hitting NY...'cause then most of Earth is thrown in Ice age!

You are a secret tabloid headline writer aren't you? C'mon own up! Either that or a teenage student.

Firstly, NY is rather a long way from Wyoming if you hadn't noticed. Secondly it has been predicted that if the Yellowstone Caldera was to ever erupt again, it "could" wipe out a significant proportion of life in Mid and Western USA and Canada. And "likely" to deposit ash over the entirety of both countries. It would probably affect world weather patterns, what it would not do is cause a global Ice age.

How about a scenario where a moderate size asteroid hits earth in the Yellowstone caldera and prematurely triggers a super volcanic eruption. I know the possibility is nearly zero but it could happen.

In theory a direct hit would release the force of the caldera, but the odds are millions of times greater for a natural eruption.

QUOTE: C'mon own up!
Maybe you should learn English 1st, before posting...or at least how to type! :P

my readings in scientific articles said otherwise about VEI8 event of Yellowstone eruption! ;)

of course they are million times more likely, 'cause:
1. we won't be hit from a big rock in several centuries & that's even in question...
2. since last eruption in Yellowstone was 640.000y & it erupts every 600.000 years!
;)

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

2. since last eruption in Yellowstone was 640.000y & it erupts every 600.000 years!

This is not correct - the last three eruptions were ~2.1 million years ago, 1.2-1.3 million years and ~640 thousand years ago - the average period is about 700 thousand years, with an "error" of about 100 thousand years. So we are in the "expected, but no sure when" period. With all the monitoring that is going on the geologists and volcanologists are "quite happy" that it won't be in the very near (hundred of years) future, but might happen in the next couple of thousand years...

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

A true supervolcano eruption from Yellowstone might not put the earth in an ice age but it might put the human race on the verge of extinction. It would most likely be very cold for several years. All crops in north america would be destroyed as well as those in eurasia. I haven't seen any data concerning the effect on the southern hemisphere, but not much of our food is grown there. No food = starvation = war on a massive scale to control whatever food is left. Not a pretty picture.

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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.

Etna is constantly erupting fluid lava, it is not dangerous. Vesuvio is much more dangerous, it has been quiet since 1944 when it covered with ashes a wing of B-26 American bombers.
Tullio

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Etna is near to Catania, Vesuvio to Naples. Vedi Napoli e poi muori, old Italian saying.
Tullio

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Since we are now talking volcanos, I would never live anywhere near Mount Rainier in Washington State as it is a ticking bomb.

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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.

People learn to live near a volcano, also because the ground is very rich in minerals and gives good vegetables and fruits, besides splendid wines. I was once in Messina on a work trip from Catania and tasted excellent white wines with swordfish "carpaccio" from the Stretto di Messina Messina was destroyed in 1908 by a Tsunami following an earthquake in the Stretto. Axel Munthe has given a good description in his book "The story of San Michele".
Tullio

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Since we are now talking volcanos, I would never live anywhere near Mount Rainier in Washington State as it is a ticking bomb.

Here on the upper left coast, Washington State, we have quite a few more than just Rainier.

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About eight hundred thousand people live near Vesuvio. In case of an eruption, they should be evacuated. Impossible.
Tullio

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To a great extent the damage to Naples would depend on the direction taken by the lava and pyroclastic flows. If they are to the east & north Naples would be relatively unaffected, but to the south & west and Naples would be very seriously damaged.
How practical an evacuation is down to the amount of warning given, a few hours then it would be "every man for himself", but a few days or weeks then there would be a fair chance of a controlled evacuation. However one would have to be very pessimistic about getting decent odds on a robustly accurate warning of a significant eruption with a few weeks warning :-(

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Personally I would live well away from both of them.

Etna

Vesuvius

you got Island near you...as do I have those vulcanos in Italy...
;)

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU