According to Space.com [http://www.space.com/26129-beast-asteroid-near-earth-flyby-webcast.html], an asteroid, nicknamed "The Beast", officially named HQ124, flew by the earth today. It came within a distance over three times the distance from the earth to the moon. No big deal, right? What's interesting to me is that it was discovered on April 23rd. Hmm that's not that long ago.
One thing that put my mind at ease was the fact that The Beast is only about 1,000 feet long (352 meters), which doesn't seem all that large to me. But then Space.com reminded readers that it's the size of a football field. Huh. Yeah, that's kind of big.
The other thing that kind of worries me is that the asteroid is estimated to be at least ten times larger than the one that injured a thousand people last year in Russia. Here's a video linked in the original article:
I had no idea that many people were injured [http://www.space.com/19959-russian-meteor-explosion-all-you-need-about-chelyabinsk-s-surprise-space-rock-video.html].
.
Caution: This is where it gets confusing. What I didn't know about that asteroid back on February 15, 2013, was that it wasn't expected at all. At least that particular asteroid wasn't expected. On that very day, the world's telescopes were keeping a close eye on an entirely different asteroid named 2012 DA14 [http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroidflyby.html]. That one came within approximately 17,000 miles of the earth. The one that hit Chelyabinsk was a complete surprise, and the fact that it hit on the same day as 2012 DA14 flew by was sheer coincidence.
It's been confusing staying on top of this type of news lately, as there seems to be a bit of grumbling here in the US about maintaining funding to keep an eye on the skies. What do you guys think? Is it a waste of energy to try and stay on top of something that we have no control over? Shouldn't we be funding more efforts like this, with government playing a central role? What other options are out there?
Also, did anyone here know about HQ124 "The Beast" before today? And if so, did you dismiss the news?
One thing that put my mind at ease was the fact that The Beast is only about 1,000 feet long (352 meters), which doesn't seem all that large to me. But then Space.com reminded readers that it's the size of a football field. Huh. Yeah, that's kind of big.
The other thing that kind of worries me is that the asteroid is estimated to be at least ten times larger than the one that injured a thousand people last year in Russia. Here's a video linked in the original article:
I had no idea that many people were injured [http://www.space.com/19959-russian-meteor-explosion-all-you-need-about-chelyabinsk-s-surprise-space-rock-video.html].
.
Caution: This is where it gets confusing. What I didn't know about that asteroid back on February 15, 2013, was that it wasn't expected at all. At least that particular asteroid wasn't expected. On that very day, the world's telescopes were keeping a close eye on an entirely different asteroid named 2012 DA14 [http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroidflyby.html]. That one came within approximately 17,000 miles of the earth. The one that hit Chelyabinsk was a complete surprise, and the fact that it hit on the same day as 2012 DA14 flew by was sheer coincidence.
It's been confusing staying on top of this type of news lately, as there seems to be a bit of grumbling here in the US about maintaining funding to keep an eye on the skies. What do you guys think? Is it a waste of energy to try and stay on top of something that we have no control over? Shouldn't we be funding more efforts like this, with government playing a central role? What other options are out there?
Also, did anyone here know about HQ124 "The Beast" before today? And if so, did you dismiss the news?
