Space Discussion Thread 2011

[jstanthrnme]

There have been widespread sightings of the Aurora all across the southern US tonight. Not from my porch though!

[venture]

Looks like we have a visitor coming by on Tuesday of next week.

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011...oon/?hpt=hp_t2

NASA has classified the asteroid as a “potentially hazardous object” and it will pass to within .8 lunar distances on November 8. It is the closest approach to Earth of an object this size in over 30 years.

he asteroid will approach Earth from a sunward direction and it will be a daylight object until the time of its closest approach on November 8. The best time to see the asteroid will be after the hours of 4 pm EST (21:00 UTC).

[venture]

During the discussion of the asteroid that just passed by, I found a neat little simulator from Purdue to determine the impacts on Oklahoma should 99942 Arophis hits the early in 20 years.

http://www.purdue.edu/IMPACTEARTH

Project the closest area of impact, which would be off the Mexican coast in the Pacific, about 1500 miles away.

- No ejecta will reach us.
- No thermal radiation with the fireball below the horizon.
- No shaking from 4.8 earthquake.
- Air blast of 1.55 mph (LOL) will arrive 2.03 hours after impact.
- Tsunami of 5 feet is obviously not going to make it here. LOL

So not really a bit deal. So what if it hits land...nearest point would be Panama...2100 miles away. Pretty much the same thing. Okay, so totally random, same asteroid specs but hits say...downtown Oklahoma City and you are in Norman 20 miles away. Just a crazy hypothetical since the projected flight path wouldn't even take it this way, so just keep that in mind. Thunder. ;-)

- Crater: 3.5 miles wide, 1630 ft deep.
- Ejecta: Will reach Norman in 1.36 minutes, average thickness 4.68 inches, average diameter of 27.7 inches ... ouch!
- Thermal Radiation: 28.8 times larger than sun's appearance, 54.1 duration, visible fireball has a radius of 2.54 miles.
- Radiation Human Impact: Clothing ignites, 3rd degree burns over most of body, newspapers/deciduous trees/grass ignites, and plywood flames up.
- Seismic Effects: 6.8 mag earthquake 6.44 seconds after impact
- Airblast: Arrives 1.63 minutes after impact, sound of 100 dB, wind velocity of 392 mph - most buildings damaged/knocked down, highways collapse, and 90% of trees blown down with remaining stripped.

Luckily with something like that, there would be plenty of advanced warning to evacuate since survivability would be very low.

Just found the site interesting. It helps to control a lot of doomsday myth on what will happen if it hits. Really, for the planet itself, almost a non-event. In other news...

A CME took place yesterday, but not sure if it was directed right at us.

[OKCisOK4me]

I thought Apophis was a 36 mile long asteroid... also, is there a website that shows effects like that of what would happen here in Oklahoma if the culdera beneath Yellowstone blew? And if so, would you be able to post that info in your Volcano thread?

Oh and Apophis has to go through a keyhole first to have a chance at hitting the earth on its return trip. OSU has a greater chance at winning the national championship than for that to happen (and by a long shot)!