Category: Heavenly Signs

Mamma Mia! NASA Tracking Asteroid Nearly Double the Diameter of Roman Colosseum Approaching Earth

Sputnik News – August 31, 2020

The so-called ‘Near-Earth Object’, classified as such by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was first discovered by astronomers in 2010, and is set to cross Earth’s orbit on Sunday.

NASA is tracking a massive, 270 metre-wide asteroid that’s nearly double the diameter of the Great Roman Colosseum, and almost twice the height of Egypt’s iconic Pyramid of Giza.

The asteroid, formally known as object ‘465824 (2010 FR)’, is making its way toward Earth’s orbit at an incredible speed of approximately 50,530 km per hour (or 14 km per second), or over 1.5 times faster than what scientists call high-hypersonic speed.

The object, known as an ‘Apollo’ asteroid because it crosses Earth’s orbit, is not believed to be a threat to life on the planet, according to astronomers from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Nevertheless, scientists are monitoring space rocks such as 465824 (2010 FR) due to the effects of the gravitational pull of the planets of our solar system, as well as the Sun, which can alter their trajectory.

The asteroid is expected to hit Earth’s orbit on September 6, and will be just one of about ten near-Earth orbit flybys next month. Two such asteroids – 2020 QG5 and 2011 ES4, will arrive on Tuesday. Two more, 2020 PG6 and 465824 (2010 FR) will arrive on September 2 and 6, respectively. NASA expects ten more asteroid flybys in October.

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos commented on 2011 ES4’s approach on Sunday, promising that the planet “won’t die” from the 25 meter diameter space rock as it zips by the planet at a distance closer to Earth than our Moon. According to Roscosmos’s figures, about 80 similar asteroids approached Earth in August.

Astronomers don’t manage to spot every single asteroid that approaches Earth ahead of time. Earlier this month, a 3 by 6 meter asteroid zipped past Earth just 2,950 km above the Indian Ocean.

https://sputniknews.com

Five asteroids pass Earth this week BUT were only discovered 2 weeks ago

Strange Sounds – August 27, 2020

The near-constant bombardment of space rocks buzzing our planet continues, with planetary defenses alerted to a trio of asteroids measuring over 25 meters in diameter en route to Earth’s backyard this week.

To kick things off on Monday, not one but two space rocks over 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter flew past, both of which were detected just this month, leaving little time and space for error in calculating their trajectories. 

Asteroid 2020 PP3, 34 meters wide, passed us by at a distance of 6.1 million kilometers (3.7 million miles), having only been spotted 13 days ago. It was followed shortly afterwards by 2020 PJ6, 26 meters wide, at a distance of 5.3 million kilometers, which was spotted four days later on August 15.

Next up, on Wednesday, asteroid 2020 FF3, measuring 25 meters in diameter came far closer, though maintaining a safe distance of 2.4 million kilometers. This space rock was only spotted on August 14.

Punctuating the mid week are two smaller asteroids, 2016 AH164 (3.9 meters) and 2020 QQ2 (15 meters), which will pass at a distance of six million and 3.2 million kilometers on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

To put the danger in context, the Chelyabinsk meteor which exploded above Russia in February 2013 was just 18 meters in diameter, proving that it doesn’t take much for a meteorite or asteroid to cause a vast amount of destruction. 

Meanwhile, the recently-discovered asteroid 2020 PG6 is expected to hit the Earth on August 31, 2029, and measures 14 meters in diameter, highlighting once again the need for humanity to remain vigilant lest we be caught off guard and face a catastrophic impact event.

https://strangesounds.org

Scientists Have Warned That A 400 Foot Tsunami Could Hit The East Coast If An Asteroid Hit The Atlantic Ocean

– August 4, 2020

We live at a time when giant space rocks are whizzing past our planet with alarming regularity.  Sometimes we know in advance that they are coming, and sometimes we don’t.  In fact, on July 28th an asteroid the size of a car zipped past our planet “at a range that rivals the orbits of some high-flying satellites”, but we had only spotted it for the very first time on July 26th.  If we couldn’t see that one until it was nearly upon us, could it be possible that there are much larger potential threats hurtling toward our planet that we currently know nothing about?

In 1998, a big Hollywood movie entitled “Deep Impact” imagined what would happen if a very large asteroid hit the Atlantic Ocean.  It is hard to believe that it has been more than 20 years since it first came out, because I can still remember it very vividly.  In one of the most memorable scenes in the film, a massive tsunami that is hundreds of feet tall slams into the east coast of the United States causing immense death and destruction.

But that is just a movie.  Could something similar actually happen in real life?

On Tuesday, a British news source reminded us that scientists have discovered that such a scenario is actually a very real possibility…

A computer simulation of an asteroid impact tsunami developed by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz (USCS), showed waves as high as 400 feet sweeping onto the Atlantic Coast of the US.

Steven Ward, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UCSC, and Erik Asphaug, an associate professor of Earth sciences, reported their findings in the Geophysical Journal International.

Of course an asteroid could potentially hit anywhere on the planet, but in their research Ward and Asphaug specifically focused on the Atlantic Ocean, and what their computer simulation came up with was extremely disconcerting…

For the simulation, the researchers chose an impact site consistent with the orientation of the Earth at the time of the predicted encounter – in the Atlantic Ocean about 360 miles from the US coast.

Dr Ward explained that the 60,000-megaton blast of the impact could vaporise the asteroid and blow a cavity in the ocean 11 miles across and all the way down to the seafloor, which is about three miles deep at that point.

Such an impact would send a series of giant waves in all directions, including toward the east coast of the United States.

http://endoftheamericandream.com

Experts Say Near Earth Asteroid Due To Come Within 300 Miles Of Earth In November Not A Concern Yet

Charlie Forbes – July 21, 2020

CBS Detroit – There’s a video on Youtube saying we are about to have another “very-close encounter” with an asteroid. What the Jet Propulsion Lab in California calls “Near-Earth-Objects” or NEOs. Now keep in mind asteroids have been coming close or have hit our planet for millions of years, and many do daily. The bulk of asteroids and debris in space as you may remember from science class get burned up in the atmosphere, caused by the friction from the air as objects hit the atmosphere going many thousands of miles per hour.

However, one Youtube video says an asteroid called “2018 VP1“, which is about 6 feet diameter will pass within about 300 miles of our planet on November 2, 2020. However, some experts are saying this nothing to fear. First off there’s the math, asteroid “2018 VP1” is projected to come 0.02 times the distance between the earth and the moon. Given that the moon is 239,000 miles away, 0.02 equates to 4,780 miles. Now your thinking that’s far off right? What’s the big deal? Well, when they compute this stuff through orbital mechanics, they use the center of the celestial body, in this case, the earth. The earth is 7,917 miles across, and half that is 3,958 miles. That is where the video correctly gets its 300-mile estimate from, or a drive from Metro Detroit to Sault Sainte Marie in the UP to put it in perspective.

In a recent article to Mlive, astronomer Mike Murray says while this is very close, it is not as bad as it seems. JPL assigns a confidence number or condition code to NEO’s from 0 to 9. “0” being a very “duck and cover” confident and 9 being very uncertain. Asteroid “2018 VP1” scores a 7 which means the projected forecast is uncertain. Part of that is because in 2018 they observed this for 21 days and only formed an orbital arc for 13 days. Murray says that even if this rock were hit to hit a bullseye on earth, it is only 6 feet across. It would have to be 20 times larger to do damage to a city.

On February 15, 2013 the Chelyabinsk meteor entered the earth’s atmosphere over Russia over the southern Ural region. This asteroid was 11 times larger than “2018 VP1” at 66 feet across and was shared on social media everywhere as it appeared brighter than the sun and was visible up to 62 miles away. The Chelyabinsk meteor exploded about 97,000 feet in the air with the force of 400-500 kilotons of TNT, or 26-33 times the energy of the “Little Boy” atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The atmosphere absorbed most of that blast and people were injured from broken windows from nearby buildings. It ended up exploding in an air burst into many pieces. Astronomer Mike Murray says “2018 VP1” would probably break apart or explode like the Chelyabinsk meteor and most that do impact the earth.

So for now the experts and the video makes the point that for now, we’re safe. As we don’t know all the facts on this asteroid’s orbit, but as “2018 VP1” gets closer, hopefully, astronomers will be able to acquire it to make more measurements and know for certain this asteroid’s orbit.

https://detroit.cbslocal.com

‘Ring of Fire’ annular solar eclipse to grace the skies soon after the solstice

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An annular solar eclipse will take place on Sunday, June 21, 2020. This is one of the most breathtaking celestial events when the Moon partially obscures the Sun, allowing a “ring of fire” on its edges. The eclipse will start several hours after the solstice.

The annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is farthest away from the Earth in its orbit, thus, appearing smaller in our skies, relative to the Sun.

The difference in apparent size is what sets annular eclipses apart from full eclipses– when the nearer position of the Moon (with its average radius of  800 km or 1 000 miles) makes it look the same size as our star (with a radius of around 696 000 km or 432 000 miles).

A stunning example of this was taken by photographer Colin Legg and astronomy student Geoff Sims in Western Australia in May 2013. The ring of fire is seen being distorted by the Earth’s atmosphere.

A complete ring of fire will be visible from central Africa through Asia, while many other areas, from southern Europe to the northern portions of Australia, will see a partial annular eclipse.

The instant of greatest eclipse takes place at 06:40 UTC, with the Sun in the constellation Taurus. This is 6.2 days after the Moon reaches apogee.

The synodic month in which the eclipse takes place has a Brown Lunation Number of 1206, NASA’s Fred Espenak aka Mr. Eclipse noted. The eclipse belongs to Saros 137 and is number 36 of 70 eclipses in the series. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s ascending node. The Moon moves southward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series and gamma decreases.

At the peak of the eclipse, the Moon will obscure 99.4 percent of the Sun as the pair puts a spectacular display across the skies of northern India.

https://watchers.news

NASA Keeping Tabs on Stadium-Sized Asteroid Headed Toward Earth

Amy Furr – June 4, 2020

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said Wednesday that it was keeping an eye on several asteroids moving closer to Earth in the next few days.

“According to the agency’s asteroid watch, the largest of the five currently being tracked is 1,100 feet wide, roughly the size of a stadium,” WMBF reported.

However, the massive asteroid, expected to be nearest the Earth on Saturday, was not supposed to be a threat because the closest it was predicted to come was 3.16 million miles away.

“There are three others the size of a plane and one the size of a house also making their way to earth over the next few days,” according to Fox 2 Now.

“Scientists also don’t believe there are any concerns from those asteroids either. The closest one is expected to come within 1,830,000 miles of earth later today,” the article noted.

On its website, NASA posted an Asteroid Watch Widget to track the asteroids and comets that would make relatively close approaches to our planet.

“The Widget displays the next five Earth approaches to within 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers or 19.5 times the distance to the moon); an object larger than about 150 meters that can approach the Earth to within this distance is termed a potentially hazardous object,” the site read.

Although it was unlikely for an asteroid to collide with Earth in the near future, scientists from all over the world gathered at a 2019 conference to discuss how to respond to one big enough to destroy a major city, according to CBS News.

“All we have to do is change its speed a little faster or a little slower so that when it crosses Earth’s orbit, it crosses either in front of us or behind us,” stated Dr. Lori Glaze, who is the director of planetary science at NASA.

https://www.breitbart.com

Statue of Liberty-sized ASTEROID barrelling towards Earth as six space rocks set to skim past

RT – May 22, 2020

A huge asteroid that’s roughly the size of the Statue of Liberty is set to fly past Earth on Saturday. The enormous object is among a clutch of six space rocks that will whizz past our planet this weekend.

The largest of the half-dozen space visitors is dubbed 2020 JX and it measures up to 100 meters in diameter, making it around the same size as the icon on Liberty island in New York.

NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) is tracking the flying chunk of space material in case it poses any danger to our planet. Thankfully, its calculations forecast that the space boulder will safely pass by at a speed of nearly 18,000 miles per hour at around 19:00 GMT.

The US Space Administration has classified 2020 JX as an Apollo asteroid, the same classification as the meteor that injured hundreds of people when it exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013.

It has also been designated as a ‘Near Earth Object,’ the term NASA uses to describe “comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood.”

Asteroid 2020 JX is the largest of four space rocks that will fly near Earth on Saturday. Two additional asteroids will sail past on Sunday and NASA says that all six will pass at a safe distance. The closest visitor will be around 900,000 miles from Earth at its closest point.

Astronomers are currently monitoring nearly 2,000 asteroids, comets and other objects that could be a danger to Earth. However, experts have also warned that undetected asteroids could also pose a threat to our planet.

https://www.rt.com

There Will Be Both A Solar and Lunar Eclipse In June

ETH – May 21, 2020

(ETH) – So far in 2020 we have several celestial events transpire. We’ve had three Super Moons in a row, starting with March’s Full Worm Moon, April’s Full Pink Moon, and, as recently reported, May’s peak of the ‘Eta Aquarids’ Meteor Shower took place only days before the Full Flower Moon.

According to The Mind Unleashed, there are plenty more celestial events in store, starting with a partial Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on June 5th and 6th and an Annular Solar Eclipse on June 21st.

This year will have a total of six eclipses, four Lunar, and two Solar Eclipses. The report indicated that Lunar Eclipses will all be partial and the Solar Eclipses will be an Annular Eclipse on June 21st and a Total Eclipse on December 14th.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

‘Potentially Hazardous’ Asteroid the Size of Golden Gate Bridge Approaching Earth at 11 km/s

Sputnik News – May 11, 2020

Several space rocks are expected to cross paths with earth this month, but the largest one, and potentially the most dangerous, is the Apollo-class 1997 BQ asteroid, as researchers believe that any space objects measuring close to one kilometre in diameter could have devastating consequences for our planet.

NASA disclosed that 1997 BQ asteroid, also known as 136795, will “closely approach” Earth on the evening of 21 May, sweeping round at a speed of around 11.6 kilometre per second. The space rock was first observed back in January 1997 and is measured at between 0.668 and 1.493 kilometers in diameter, judging by its brightness, which makes it “roughly” comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge, the space agency notes.

The asteroid is deemed “potentially hazardous” by NASA, as it belongs to the Apollo category of space rocks, the trajectory of which crosses the orbit of our planet. It might be too early to sound an alarm though, as 1997 BQ will only approach our home from a distance of 0.04115 astronomical units, or 6.156 million kilometres in human terms.

However, NASA’s Centre for Near Earth Object Studies is closely monitoring the object which is considered to be larger than 97% of other space asteroids. Any rocks that are close to one kilometre in size can be potentially dangerous to our planet, the National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy revealed in 2018, as they can create a significant regional impact with secondary effects such as tsunamis, without even making contact with the earth.

https://sputniknews.com

NASA Missed an Asteroid that Came Closer to Earth than the Moon

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz– April 16, 2020

An asteroid the size of a house was discovered by NASA last week, which was just in time to announce its near-miss on Wednesday night. Asteroid 2020 GH2 is estimated to be 43 to 70 feet wide according to Space.com.

NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office assured Earth-dwellers that our planet was safe from destruction, tweeting a video that attempted to put a near-earth pass into perspective.

The video depicted the Earth as a basketball, the moon as a tennis ball 25 feet away, and the asteroid responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs as a grain of salt “a couple of blocks away.” But GH2 was not a couple of blocks away. GH2 passed by the Earth at a distance of 220,000 miles, which put it about 16,000 miles closer than the moon.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com