asteroid •

Watch Out, Planet Earth – An Asteroid Is About To Pass Close By

February 4, 2016 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

‘Oh… I just wanted to say hello. I’m not staying.’

’Watch out, planet Earth – an asteroid is about to pass close by’ – this is how the experts’ warning would sound like. According to NASA, there is this small asteroid is expected to fly past the Earth during the first week of March.

The asteroid (as long as a basketball court) is called asteroid 2013 TX68. Two years ago, it flew past Earth at a comfortable distance of about 1.3 million miles (2 million kilometers) and who now will fly by our planet again in a few weeks. The difference between the last time and this time is that this time it may be much closer.

So close and yet so far.

The predicted range of distance at which the asteroid will go by is very wide, due to the short tracking time of it, which provided limited information for making future tracking predictions.

It could come as close as 11,000 miles (17,700 kilometers) — less than 5 percent of the distance from Earth to the moon — or stay up to 9 million miles (14.5 million km) away during the flyby.

NASA officials said.

On the other hand, scientists that are interested in the case, hope that the asteroid will be close enough to track more thoroughly during its next flyby, for the purposes of adding extra data to the study and to predict the asteroid’s future path.

Graphic indicating the possible locations asteroid 2013 will be in at the time of its closest approach to Earth on March 5.

Experts believe that if an object as big as asteroid 2013 TX68 were to penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere, it would generate an air burst that is twice as powerful as the one produced during the meteor crash in Chelyabinsk.

Despite the expected close flyby of 2013 TX68 on March 5, there is no danger that the asteroid will collide with Earth on this pass, researchers said. However, there is an extremely slight chance — less than 1 in 250 million — of an impact on Sept. 28, 2017, and even lower odds during flybys in 2046 and 2097.

The possibilities of collision on any of the three future flyby dates are far too small to be of any real concern.

CNEOS manager Paul Chodas declared. He also added that he fully expects any future observations to reduce this probability even more.

As a conclusion, it is not as bad as it looks. But as you lay down in bed on March 5, think of the rocky body that is about to fly past the Earth – it should suddenly make you feel small.

Image Source: yournewswire.com; www.space.com.

International Space Station Needs A Laser Cannon, Scientists Say

May 19, 2015 By Germaine Hicks Leave a Comment

The International Space Station could be armed with a laser to shoot down debris, researchers say, adding that the project is not of immediate importance.

This concept might eventually point to a laser-firing satellite which could eliminate of a large percentage of the most problematic space junk that is orbiting Earth, researchers explained.

NASA scientists suggest that almost 3,000 tons of space debris are present in low-Earth orbit, among them being derelict satellites, rocket bodies and also parts resulted after the impacts involving larger objects. Collisions from pieces of junk which are only the size of a small screw can still cause catastrophic damage on satellites. Some of these projectiles are traveling at speeds of more than 22,000 mph.

The issue of space debris is gaining importance as more spacecraft and satellites are sent into space. Large pieces of junk can be the source of lots of small fragments if they collide, and those pieces can then strike other objects in orbit, generating a chain reaction of damage.

Most spacecraft, like the International Space Station, can take the hits from debris smaller than approximately 0.4 inches with adequate shielding. Unfortunately, ground-based radar and computer programs point to the fact that more than 700,000 pieces of space junk larger than 0.4 inches are now orbiting Earth. Although pieces larger than 4 inches have the sufficient size for astronomers to spot them, debris smaller than 4 inches are significantly more difficult to detect and avoid.

Now scientists suggest the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO), which will be installed on Japan’s module on the International Space Station in 2017, could aid the orbiting complex identify dangerous debris. They explained that a powerful laser which is under development might then help take down this space garbage.

“The EUSO telescope, which was originally designed to detect cosmic rays, could also be put to use for this useful project,” said study lead author Toshikazu Ebisuzaki, an astrophysicist and chief scientist at the RIKEN Computational Astrophysics Laboratory in Wako, Japan.

EUSO was originally created to spot ultraviolet light that is produced by ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays as they penetrate the atmosphere at night. The researchers think that its powerful optics and wide range of view could also be very useful in its efforts to detect high-speed debris close to the International Space Station.

Image Source: Engadget

Supreme Court Refuses to Intervene in Abortion Law

December 15, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

The Supreme Court refused to disturb the law which restricts the availability of non surgical abortions. The court declined to inform about the reason behind this action.

It seems like the Republicans in Arkansas’s Legislature are trying to make it a complex task for women to get abortion.

FDA passed these non surgical abortion drugs in 2000. It can be easily utilized in the first seven weeks of pregnancy. Shortly after that researchers tried to create smaller dose that can be taken till the ninth week of pregnancy.

These medicines are relatively cheaper and safer option than the usual surgery. Generally, abortion clinics are not present in each and every state of the country. Therefore, these drugs immediately gained popularity among the pregnant women.

These medicines interfere in the performance of progesterone. Progesterone is endogenous asteroid which is essential for pregnancy. The women use it with a combination of another drug misoporstrol. The misoporstrol contracts the uterus and afterwards eject its contents. The FDA has not misporstrol for pregnant women.

Shortly after the launch of these drugs, a few states implemented laws to restrict the use of these pills.

However, the 9^th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals stopped the authorities to impose more laws on this matter. The court states that Arizona law enforces unnecessary laws on the women’s right of abortion.

Active asteroid ‘62412’ with tail found between Mars and Jupiter

November 12, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Astronomers have discovered a new active asteroid having a comet-like tail in the main asteroid belt of our solar system between Mars and Jupiter.

The asteroid, dubbed as 62412, has been spotted in the Hygiea family of asteroids in our solar system. The scientists say this would be the first comet-like object to have been seen in this asteroid family.

The unexpected tail on the asteroid ‘62412’ has discovered by researchers Chadwick Trujillo and Scott Sheppard, both from the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Talking about the discovery, Sheppard said, “Until about 10 years ago, it was very obvious to know about a comet, but now it’s all changing as we realize that not all of these celestial objects show activity all of the time.”

It was previously believed that the asteroids were mostly unchanging celestial objects. But with the advancement of science and technology, their proper observation also improved which allowed the scientists to discover strange objects associate with the asteroid like commas and tails.

According to the research team, 62412 has a very fast rotation that hold the potential to probably shift material around its surface, leading to the formation of comet-like appearance.

Scientists said that the strange tail attached to the asteroid may be formed directly from the ejected material from the fast rotating nucleus. Moreover, it can also be created from the ice within the asteroid after subliming into water vapor when exposed.

Researchers Discovered an Asteroid With Comet-like Tail in Solar System

November 12, 2014 By Germaine Hicks 3 Comments

Recently, astronomers have found a new asteroid in the main asteroid belt of the solar system, which has comet-like tail – a surprising discovery that researchers were not expecting.

As per the Business Standard, the assigned 62412 — asteroid would be the first ever comet-like body discovered in the Hygiea family. The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter.

Though researchers had been aware of the asteroid for some time, they think it is only a standard asteroid, until they observed a tail at the end of it. This signifies it’s what is known an “active” asteroid. It’s the 13^th discovered in the primary asteroid belt. It escorts scientists to think that there are around 100 asteroids present in the belt.

However, the researchers are still unaware of the fact that why asteroids loose material and create a tail, but they think that latest impacts or the transformation of bare ice from solid to gas may help elucidate it.

Researchers accustomed to think that asteroids were constant, however, with enhanced technology come advanced techniques of examining them, permitting for the finding of tails along with a thin “atmosphere” round the comet referred to as a coma.

The scientists reveal that the recently discovered active asteroid has an extremely fast rotation, with material shifting on its surface and creating its tail to really make it seem like a comet. But, they won’t determine if the tail comes from material tossed from the primary rock, or from ice being converted into vapor.

Certainly, the solar system’s asteroid belt is stuffed with sporadically formed rocks from the development of the universe, contributing to 1 / 2 of its mass originates from the 4 biggest asteroids, Hygiea, Pallas, Veres, and Vesta. Ceres, the biggest of the four, is recognized as a dwarf planet because of its size (590 miles diameter).

The comet-like asteroid was discovered near Hygiea, the 4th biggest asteroid. It’s believed to become in between 350 and 500 kilometers (the main difference is because of its rhombus shape) and contains 2.9 % of the belt’s mass. It features a dark surface that causes it to be hard to be seen from Earth. Due to that, it was not discovered until 1849.

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