Asteroid Watch 24/7

03/09/2022

NASA estimates there are thousands of asteroids big enough to be "semi-apocalyptic" near Earth's orbit. Why isn't the White House worried?

15/08/2022

https://singularityhub.com/2022/08/14/new-evidence-suggests-giant-asteroid-impacts-created-earths-continents/

Scientists studying ancient minerals in Western Australia found tantalizing clues suggesting the giant impact hypothesis might be right.

10/05/2022

The chances of large impacts from asteroids and near-Earth objects capable of causing widespread damage on Earth are small — but they aren’t zero.

26/12/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgssup1tKxI

NASA has warned that a giant asteroid bigger than the Eiffel Tower will break into Earth’s orbit in just over a week.The 1,082-foot space rock is heading our...

19/11/2021

The DART mission begins its journey that will end when it smashes into an asteroid, demonstrating how we might save Earth from a devastating impact.

18/11/2021

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/11/15/science/study-finds-massive-asteroids-impacted-earth-far-more-frequently-than-previously-believed-slowed-oxidization-atmosphere/

A new study further concludes that the frequency of those impacts may have delayed the evolution of oxygen in the atmosphere, and therefore, multicellular life.

18/11/2021

https://www.space.com/earth-asteroid-planetary-defense-dart-mission-reality

NASA's new DART mission could be a template to defend our planet.

28/08/2020

https://www.cnet.com/news/asteroid-passing-earth-before-the-election-is-real-but-nasa-isnt-worried/

The Michael Jordan-size asteroid has a 0.41% chance of entering Earth's atmosphere.

28/08/2020

https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/no-other-asteroid-is-going-to-get-closer-to-earth-in-the-next-decade-as-the-one-set-to-fly-by-on-september-1/articleshow/77802359.cms

Asteroid 11 ES4, which is approaching the Earth will be closer to the planet than even the Moon on September 1. This will be the asteroid’s closest proximity

03/08/2020

https://www.ibtimes.com/nasa-small-asteroid-cross-earths-orbit-monday-3021283

NASA detected a small asteroid that's expected to fly past Earth at a distance of 1.8 million miles on Monday.

03/08/2020

https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/07/31/Cave-sediments-suggest-global-cooling-13K-years-ago-not-caused-by-asteroid/4761596221876/

Geochemical signatures found in sediments from a Texas cave suggest the Younger Dryas, a period of global cooling that occurred 13,000 years ago, was caused by Earth-based processes, not an extraterrestrial impact.

03/08/2020

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/28/india/india-schoolgirl-asteroid-intl-scli-scn/index.html

Two Indian schoolgirls have discovered an asteroid which is slowly shifting its orbit and moving toward Earth.

17/05/2020

https://bgr.com/2020/05/14/asteroid-test-meteor-shower-dart/

NASA’s DART mission will test the feasibility of redirecting an asteroid, but the debris it creates could generate the first-ever manmade meteor shower. The DART mission includes a spacecraft…

17/05/2020

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/nasa-tracking-giant-asteroid-travelling-22042296

NASA's Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies is tracking an asteroid measuring between 670 metres and 1.5 kilometres in diameter, expected to approach Earth's orbit on May 21

15/05/2020

https://www.foxnews.com/science/nasa-asteroid-mission-artificial-meteor-shower-study

A planned NASA mission to test its capability to defend Earth from an incoming asteroid could cause the planet’s first-ever artificial meteor shower, a study found earlier this year.

12/05/2020

https://astronomy.com/news/2020/04/earths-best-telescopes-have-closed-but-the-hunt-for-dangerous-asteroids-continues

Despite more than 100 major telescope closures in recent weeks, key asteroid detection efforts remain online.

12/05/2020

https://www.sciencealert.com/an-asteroid-skimmed-earth-way-closer-than-the-moon-and-it-s-actually-a-good-thing

With all the large asteroids hitting the news lately, it would have been easy for a small one to sneak under the radar. In fact, one very nearly did. On April 27, astronomers discovered a new asteroid, a little pixie of a space rock between 4 and 8 m

30/04/2020

They didn't stop to say hello, but a mountain of a space rock and some friends did visit the neighborhood.

27/11/2019

27/11/2019

11/14/2018: Massive crater under Greenland’s ice points to climate-altering impact in the time of humans

This article is from a year ago in 2018. It highlights the evidence that first got me interested in the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis and the threat of asteroids. Modern climate change and the melting of the polar ice sheets have revealed an impact crater that scientists believe could be the result of an asteroid impact 13,000 years ago. They believe the impact would have caused global climate change and the extinction of ice age megafauna.

The 31-kilometer-wide Hiawatha crater may have formed as recently as 12,800 years ago when a 1.5-kilometer asteroid struck Earth

27/11/2019

10/02/2019: African evidence support Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis

This article was published before the findings in South Carolina were published but the findings are similar. A platinum spike was found in a layer of peat in South Africa that dates back to about 12,800 years ago. Platinum spikes are associated with meteorite impacts and the date matches other sites with platinum spikes found around the world indicating a global event.

A team of scientists from South Africa has discovered evidence partially supporting a hypothesis that Earth was struck by a meteorite or asteroid 12,800 years ago, leading to global consequences including climate change, and contributing to the extinction of many species of large animals at the time...

27/11/2019

11/26/2019: Will Europe Finally Get Its Asteroid-Deflection Mission Off the Ground?

The ESA (European Space Agency) hopes to approve funding for a mission to a near-earth asteroid that may give us data for future deflection missions. An earlier version of this mission was denied in 2016. The fact that we can barely get funding for research missions on how to deflect asteroids shows that governments don't see it as enough of a threat. Or more likely it's not profitable enough for anyone so everyone just hoes they die naturally before we have to worry about this.

ESA's Hera mission would gather data that might be used in a planet-saving mission if we ever need to knock space rock off a deadly collision course with Earth.

25/11/2019

11/23/2019: NASA asteroid warning: ‘Nothing’ can be done to stop major asteroid destroying Earth

This is my major concern. Even if we did have advanced notice of an Earth destroying asteroid headed for us, there is currently no feasible plan to deflect it. Space organizations are working on methods but the testing for these methods will take decades to perfect and the programs are grossly underfunded.

A NASA employee has warned “nothing” could be done if a major asteroid was heading towards Earth and humanity would simply have to accept its fate.

22/11/2019

11/21/2019:Asteroid warning: NASA reveals 10 dates 'God of chaos' asteroid Apophis could hit Earth

This is the third-largest asteroid being tracked that is potentially hazardous to earth. This asteroid will make multiple astronomically close passes of Earth between 2060 and 2103, which if their projected trajectory changes there's a slim chances it could be put on a collision path with Earth.

ASTEROID APOPHIS, the “God of Chaos” space rock capable of wiping out millions of people, has a slim chance of striking Earth on 10 different dates, space agency NASA has discovered.

22/11/2019

11/21/2019:Asteroid warning: Earth WILL be hit by rock size of dinosaur-ending strike - expert claim

Again a clickbaity title. It means Earth will be hit rock size of dinosaur ending strike someday. It is estimated that a rock that size hits Earth every 100 million years. The last time we were hit was 6o million years ago so this article really means sometime in the next 40 million years well be hit by a rock that size. Currently, around 90 percent of asteroids around that size are being tracked with none expected to hit within the near future. But that last 10 percent...

AN asteroid similar in size to the one which killed the dinosaurs will hit Earth again, an expert has claimed.

18/11/2019

11/14/2019: NASA asteroid horror: Radars track potential impact date in May 2022 with 230 kiloton rock

This another example of a clickbaity headlines exploiting asteroid ignorance. This asteroid has a 1 in 3,800 chance of hitting Earth from the projections. Or a 99.974 chance of missing the Earth. But if it did it would have the power to devastate a city.

NASA’S asteroid trackers predict a colossal asteroid as tall as the London Eye has a slim chance of hitting Earth in less than three years.

18/11/2019

11/18/2019: Asteroid warning: 1,200 scientists launch campaign to save Earth from deep space impact

Here are over 1200 experts who share the same concerns as myself of the asteroid danger. We live in an asteroid shooting gallery. It's not IF, Its WHEN

MORE than 1,200 asteroid experts and concerned citizens have launched a campaign on November 15 in support of missions to “detect and deflect dangerous asteroids headed towards Earth”.

18/11/2019

11/18/2019: Asteroid danger: NASA reveals why it has 'no insight' into 20,000 'near-Earth' asteroids

This article highlights the effect that changes asteroid trajectories over time. One of the problems with calculating asteroid trajectories is that there are many forces in space that can change the trajectory. This article talks about the Yarkovsky effect and how if affects Near Earth Asteroids (NEA). The Yarkovsky effect is when sunlight heats up a side of an asteroid giving off radiation that acts like thrusters altering the trajectory of the asteroid. Over a long time, this effect can add up and make predictions difficult.

NASA’S asteroid trackers keep a watchful eye on the skies above Earth but one scientist has warned the space agency has “no insight” into the behaviour of at least 20,000 asteroids.

18/11/2019

11/18/2019: 'Killer' asteroids: How to know when space rocks are as scary as they sound

This article is a perfect read to be able to see through all the clickbaity headlines that news outlets reporting on asteroids often use. It details how news outlets will have misleading headlines about asteroids saying stuff like " Killer asteroid headed for earth" while in fact, the asteroid will pass by millions of miles away from earth. The issue again comes from the scale of space. Millions of miles in astronomical terms can be considered close, so when astronomers say an asteroid will pass close news outlets exaggerate the headline. This is an issue because people may stop believing these headlines so when the real threat comes no one will believe or take it seriously.

The ones to worry about are almost never the ones in the alarmist headlines.

13/11/2019

11/12/2019: Asteroid shock: Nasa observes one mile wide Earth crosser that is ‘potentially hazardous’

The title of this article is click-baity. This asteroid is being tracked with no current trajectory has it colliding with Earth. When astronomers say an asteroid is flying close to earth they are speaking in astronomical terms. Space is huge. So close by space standards can be millions of miles. For instance, this asteroid is projected to come within 1.4 million miles of earth in 2036, which is considered close. While that distance is actually safe there are many factors that can alter an asteroid's trajectory potentially putting this and many asteroids like it on a collision path with the earth. That's why we (humans) need an asteroid deflection plan that is rapidly deployable.

AN ASTEROID, one mile wide, that is so massive it has its own moon, has been labelled as “potentially hazardous” by experts.