An asteroid, heading straight for us!

Some asteroids travel as part of something called a “collision family”. Its a group of rocks that were all part of a single asteroid at one time but got broken off in a collision with a smaller asteroid. The collection of material made up of usually a small number of large pieces and a larger number of small pieces then travel in a similar orbit around the sun. I would be curious to know if astronomers think that the piece that hit Russia was part of a collision family that included the rock that missed us. It seems like a good possibility.

From what I’ve read they’re looking into that, but it is unlikely. The meteor was apparently on a different trajectory than the flyby asteroid.

They are sure it’ll be a “flyby,” right? :-S I guess we’ll find out in about five minutes…

From what I've read they're looking into that, but it is unlikely. The meteor was apparently on a different trajectory than the flyby asteroid.
Yeah I just saw that. I guess its just an odd coincidence.

Oh, since the asteroid has its own orbit, the title of this thread is just a bit inaccurate. It’s heading curved for us, not straight for us. :slight_smile:
Occam

Wow! At least it missed Kazakhstan! Apparently they can thank god for that. Maybe he dosen’t like Putin, even though he thanked god there were no deaths. We should also ask Ted Cruz why he’s covering up that new US weapons system we’re testing over Russia. what about it Senator? Care to comment?
Cap’t Jack

Yeeeehaaaaaaaw!!!

Amazing event, but, holy s***!
Luckily, nobody was killed. The video clips of the meteor are a sight to see, it must be said.

Yeah, that’s amazing.
I’ve seen the light caused by this one]. Doing my evening dog round I suddenly saw houses lit by some flashes behind me. I turned around and saw still some light glare coming from behind the horizon. I immediately thought about a meteorite, the next day I heard it in the news. The meteorite fell in Bavaria, I am living close to Lucerne in Switzerland, that is still quite a distance. It is a kind of eerie feeling seeing such an event…

Yeeeehaaaaaaaw!!!!!
Ride em cowboy. :exclaim:

This one is great :sick: it explains the meteor that came down over Cuba.
METEOR HITS CUBA 2-15-2013 (SHOCKING FOOTAGE!!!)

This one is great :sick: it explains the meteor that came down over Cuba. METEOR HITS CUBA 2-15-2013 (SHOCKING FOOTAGE!!!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQb7iLXa4qw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foY11IkzK9Q Another Meteor Flashes Across San Francisco Bay Area Skies on 2/15/13 Hmmm, I always wondered about San Francisco, commie ha

Guess the peole running around screaming “The sky is falling” may be right. :grrr:

The shockwave was “heard” halfway around the world.]

The shock wave from Friday’s (Feb. 15) meteor explosion above Russia sent subsonic waves through the atmosphere halfway around the world.
Up to 11 sensors in Greenland, Africa, Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and other far-flung regions detected the Russian meteor blast’s infrasound, or low-frequency sound waves. The sensors are part of the global network of 60 infrasound stations maintained by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

Space rocks are cool. Seriously. There’s something metal about chunks of rock and iron hurtling through space at thousands of miles an hour slamming into the atmosphere and bursting into flames before exploding, melting, or smashing into the earth.

Just thought this was really cool. Its a video of Asteroid 2012 DA14 as it passed over.
http://vimeo.com/59778274

The blast from the meteor was 30 times that of Hiroshima.]

The object is estimated to have been about 17 m across with a mass of 7,000–10,000 tonnes when it hit atmosphere. It exploded with a force of nearly 500 kilotons of TNT –- some 30 times the energy released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb — around 15 to 20 km above the ground.
I’d say we got lucky. Most of the injuries were minor, and the property damage estimates are very low. If it had been 25 m across, it would have had the same power as the quake which caused the Fukushima tsunami.

Just thought this was really cool. Its a video of Asteroid 2012 DA14 as it passed over. http://vimeo.com/59778274
Yeah, that is really cool. But it is a time lapse video: my French is very bad, but I read from the comments that the playing of the video is accelerated witch a factor 50. That fits more or less with the technical info: recorded from 20:01 till 20:16, and the video is 16 seconds.

Some people think that astronomy is far removed from their daily lives. But then when it lands in your neighborhood, then look out people!
The 'ol shooting gallery still has billions of shots left. :down:

I'd say we got lucky. Most of the injuries were minor, and the property damage estimates are very low. If it had been 25 m across, it would have had the same power as the quake which caused the Fukushima tsunami.
The concussion was impressive, any closer or bigger and. . . CAIDA Y EXPLOSION de Meteoritos Rusia IMPACTANTE 15-02-13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLmuqt8aHmI&feature=endscreen&NR=1 Russia Meteor Shock Waves Blow Off Doors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXRXhLlUGcQ Russia Amateur Camera of damage by meteorite explosion on a factory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCrAoRLP8gY ~ ~ ~ Huge hole as Russian meteor smashes into icy lake Метеоритный кратер http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1sEdMMH93I