 | |  | | ![]()  | Alex said: | | even if it hit, it'd explode before getting to the ground |
Not if it were made of solid iron, with a near-vertical impact.<_< | |  | |  |
|
| written by Alex on Feb 06, 2016 07:49 |
 | |  | | ![]() | Cryoburner said: | | Alex said: | | even if it hit, it'd explode before getting to the ground |
Not if it were made of solid iron |
But it's not. NASA said so.  | |  | |  |
|
| | | | ![]() | Alex said: | | Cryoburner said: | | Alex said: | | even if it hit, it'd explode before getting to the ground |
Not if it were made of solid iron |
But it's not. NASA said so. : P |
But they also said it's not going to hit. : P
On a related note, NASA plans to deploy a payload of 13 shoebox-sized cubesats from the SLS Orion circumlunar test flight in 2018, including one that will deploy a 9x9 meter solar sail in an attempt to perform a flyby of a near-earth asteroid. | | | | |
|
 | |  | | ![]() | Alex said: | | well no, even if it hit... |
He said, after returning to the scene of the crime:
Actually, my joking remarks about the "impending doom" of asteroid 2013 TX68 [ http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2013%20TX68&orb=1 ] was intended to mock the (inevitable) scare reports which will be found in the tabloid newsrags newspapers...or maybe even hitting the Big Time on FoxNews!*   
*which I sincerely hope that is something that is not inflicted on Italy... | |  | |  |
|
| written by Neuzd on Feb 11, 2016 17:33 |
 | |  | | ![]() | Skinnymon said: | | which I sincerely hope that is something that is not inflicted on Italy... |
No, but in recent years thanks to the Internet, we too can enjoy the side effects of its existence in being the biggest provider of source material for american satire-comedians.
: D | |  | |  |
|
| written by Kristos on Feb 21, 2016 19:37 |
 | |  | | ![]() Copied from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIGO#Observations:
On 11 February 2016, the LIGO and Virgo collaborations announced the first observation of a gravitational wave. The signal was named GW150914. The waveform showed up on 14 September 2015, within just two days of when the Advanced LIGO detectors started collecting data after their upgrade. It matched the predictions of general relativity for the inward spiral and merger of a pair of black holes and subsequent 'ringdown' of the resulting single black hole. The observations demonstrated the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.
This is a pretty interesting read about it:
Gravitational Waves Detected, Confirming Einstein’s Theory
One of the two LIGO detectors is in the first town that I called home. :) | |  | |  |
|
  | | | | ![]() In the interest of applying some form of Fairness Doctrine here at Anynowhere, I would like to remind one and all that our leader, Alex, is an adherent of this which don't allow for no frelling "black holes":
 http://arxiv.org/ftp/quant-ph/papers/0112/0112089.pdf
and do you mean you are from the Tri-Cities area?
| | | | |
|
| | | | ![]() more "nobody cares" (but since I have no one else to blather to...here's another update!) 
THX1138, erm, 2013 TX68 has its orbit "fine tuned" a bit and supposedly it will pass about 3 million miles away three days later than predicted... precision be damned!
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4888
Of course the update also says "There is still a chance that it could pass closer, but certainly no closer than 15,000 miles (24,000 kilometers) above Earth's surface."
Warms the cockles [or whatever] of your heart, doesn't it? 
| | | | |
|
| | | | ![]() No doubt this is old news, but in case you have been under a rock somewhere (and I wish you guys would stop using MY rock!) there was a total solar eclipse visible from mostly over the Pacific Ocean on the 9th (or 8th , U.S. time zones) of this month. And the big story was that through a bit of enterprising work, the flight schedule of an Alaska Airlines flight from Anchorage to Honolulu was changed so that passengers on board could view the eclipse from 30,000 feet altitude.
The view was made into a video, so you can see the "creeping shadow" approaching the flight path and the total eclipse... 
Even if you have seen it on the news or something, watch the repeat at your own leisure:
http://vimeo.com/158522323
| | | | |
|
| | | | ![]() "Woah... Double eclipse all the way... Ohhh look at that! Look at that! It's like a tornado!"
Meanwhile, NASA's DSCOVR captured the eclipse from its point of view, in the relative solitude of space...
http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/galleries/ | | | | |
|
| 
For some reason this seems a bit much for smartphone use, but I will note it here:
