Asteroid passing below some of our satellites on feb 15

Far be it for me to introduce some facts, but here goes...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21579422

Basically an Apollo asteroid. Which I think means unrelated to the near miss on Feb 13th.

That is the same story Alex posted. And it is not "fact". It is a hypothesis, based upon it's atmospheric track and the presumption not evidence, that it entered directly from it's orbit like a bullet from a gun.

Anyway, I'll stop the defense of my pet theory before I wind up looking (more) like I'm wearing tin foil. Either way hopefully this brings more attention and resources to the asteroid hunt and space in general. I bet a whole bunch of Russians are.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 was also an Apollo asteroid before the close flyby:

2012 DA14.


Also this image shows how greatly the orbit of 2012 DA14 was changed by the close flyby at 17,000 miles away:



Imagine then how greatly the orbit could be altered if a meteor passed by at only 10 miles away.

Bob Clark

It may be hypothesis, but it's one entirely consistent with all the known facts. Like Evolution, and QED

Whereas your pet theory doesn't necessarily agree with all the known facts.

Not saying your pet theory is wrong of course, but it's much less likely to be right. Occams razor and all that.

Its at least as likely probabilistically as the officially accepted theory.

This video or ones like it may also be able to address this question:

An Asteroid's Parting Shot.
By Phil Plait
Posted Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, at 8:00 AM
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronom ... video.html

The video shows asteroid 2012 DA14 slowing moving through the frame, and
meteors and artificial satellites streaking rapidly through the frame.
Assuming we are able to distinguish the satellites, perhaps by
knowing already their positions, then perhaps we can determine if the
number of meteors shown here are higher than normal.
Better would be longer exposures that include at least the time
period of the Russian meteor impact.

Bob Clark

The Fireballs of February.
Feb. 22, 2012


Note this was from last year, not this year in regard to this
February's unusual meteor and asteroid encounters. But what's key is
the article notes this has been noticed in other February's.
The article suggests greater number of fireballs in February. It also
mentions they are typically slow, long-lasting, and penetrate deep in
the atmosphere. I don't know about the slow part, but the long-lasting
and deep penetration aspects could be due to larger meteors during
February's.
If there is an association with the 2012 DA14 asteroid, then since
it has approximately a year long orbit, this could explain why the
fireballs are seen frequently in February. Note it was discovered
last year in February also during a close approach.
Also notable are the two orbital crossings per year of the asteroid
2012 DA14 with respect to the Earth's orbit:

La Sagra Observatory discovers very near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14.
Posted By Jaime Nomen
2012/03/27 05:20 CDT


Astronomer Steven Willner noted this could result in rather close approaches
on the second crossing as well. This could explain the observation of Ian
Halliday that there seems to be a statistical increase also in late Summer and Fall.

In any case, the Air Force needs to release its satellite detections
of these fireballs. For one thing they might be able to detect the
meteors before they have any appreciable interaction with the
atmosphere. For large meteors, of oblong shape, the atmospheric
interaction could alter their direction, thus giving a misleading
interpretation of their original orbits.

For many people the Air Force not sharing all the technical means at
its disposal led to the loss of the shuttle Columbia crew. It must not
be said that its keeping its meteor detections capability secret led
to the loss of an entire city.


Bob Clark

How about a new hypothesis concerning the timing of Russian meteor and the close approach event:

Some vast, extraterrestrial intelligence is trying to warn us of the urgent need for a meteor/comet defense system for our fragile earth-bound civilizations.


Asteroid headed toward Earth? 'Pray,' NASA advises

An update on the plume produced by the Russian near miss

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/15 ... nsk_plume/

Meteor Sparks Incredible Fireball Over US Midwest (Video).
By Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer | September 30, 2013 03:18pm ET


By Deborah Byrd in
BLOGS | EARTH | HUMAN WORLD on Sep 28, 2013
U.S. sees another bright fireball on September 27.


The coincidences keep building and building ...

Bob Clark

Not sure about coincidences but as more data arrives they might have to update the statistical probabilities.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/ ... nt-impact/

Mind you if its true "Earth experiences an airburst explosion similar in energy to Hiroshima almost every year" i am surprised there has not been more broken glass filmed in the last decade even if the majority happen over the oceans or uninhabited areas.

The harder you look, the more you see. I don't think we can draw the conclusion that there are more meteor events than there used to be, unless we can somehow credibly estimate the extent of and compensate for the enormous increase in recording and communication capabilities of our species. We have a similar thing in ecology: most species of organisms are observed and recorded more often now than they ever have been in the past, but if you take out the observation bias, they're actually mostly in decline. The same could easily be true for meteor events.

Thanks for the interesting article.

Bob Clark

Yes its not that not that there are more meteor events its that with better data it looks like the bigger ones happen more often than previously thought. I think with the satellite imagery of recent years we have been finding scars in jungles and deserts and have been roughly able to date them so that what were once thought to be once in a thousand year events could be once in a hundred year events. With the random nature of these things it could be that we have just been unlucky with a cluster of them in the last century. Or we could be considered to be exceedingly lucky as the big ones have left streaks of glass in deserts and killed a few trees in Siberia along with some in a few jungles.

If these large bolide impacts occur more frequently than thought, that is also a worrisome possibility.

Bob Clark