Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="retuom" data-source="post: 9883495" data-attributes="member: 98545">  Cigar-shaped asteroid stronger than '15 atomic bombs' whizzes by earth   By <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter" target="_blank">DAILY MAIL REPORTER</a>  Last updated at 7:24 PM on 16th April 2011  <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> </li> </ul>An asteroid as strong as 15 atomic bombs whizzed past earth last night at just ten times the distance of the moon. Astronomers first spotted the cigar-shaped rock spinning through space on Monday evening and tracked it.  The  star-gazers were baffled by why the asteroid 'blinked' at them until  they realised that due to is long shape, the darkness came when it  rotated slightly out of view.   Now scroll down to see the video      <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/16/article-1377531-0BA722A900000578-63_468x286.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />  Close: Astronomers spotted the asteroid, circled, on Monday and tracked it through space until it passed earth last night   Thankfully, the 50m long rock that could have destroyed a small country  went barely noticed as it passed earth at a distance of some 2,085,321  miles.   'Usually, when we see an asteroid strobe on and off like that, it means  that the body is elongated and we are viewing it broadside along its  long axis first, and then on its narrow end as it rotates,' Don Yeomans  from Nasa told <a href="http://news.com.au/" target="_blank">news.com.au</a>.   Thankfully,  the 50m long rock that could have destroyed a small country went barely  noticed as it passed earth at a distance of some 2,085,321 miles.   'Usually,  when we see an asteroid strobe on and off like that, it means that the  body is elongated and we are viewing it broadside along its long axis  first, and then on its narrow end as it rotates,' Don Yeomans from Nasa  told <a href="http://news.com.au/" target="_blank">news.com.au</a>.     <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/16/article-0-00304B7500000258-976_233x384.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />   Cosmic: Star-gazers have logged around 3,000 asteroids  'GP59 is approximately 50m long, and we think its period of rotation is  about seven-and-a-half minutes. This makes the object’s brightness  change every four minutes or so.'   Nick James, from Chelmsford, Essex, recorded the newly discovered  'Asteroid 2011 GP59' on Monday night showing the object hurtling across  the screen and blinking on and off.   The asteroid, which was recorded with an 11-inch telescope, was around  2,085,321-miles away from Earth - ten times the distance of the moon  which is 238,857 miles away.   It was picked up by astronomers at the Observatorio Astronomico de  Mallorca in Andalusia, Spain, who've since determined that it's heading  towards us.   Last night, the cosmic rock passed earth at a distance of more than two million miles.  But space experts said there was no need to be concerned as direct hit on earth would be highly unlikely.  'There is no possibility of the small space rock entering Earth’s  atmosphere during this pass or for the foreseeable future,' Yeoman  added.   He said that the orbit of the 'Asteroid 2011 GP59' could be accurately plotted.   Astronomers have so far recorded around 3,000 asteroids.  The most recent asteroid is five times bigger than one that exploded over Indonesia in October 2009.   According to the New Scientist magazine, the Indonesian asteroid was as  powerful as three atomic bombs, roughly making the new Asteroid 2011  GP59 the same strength as 15 bombs.   <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1377531/Asteroid-strong-15-atomic-bombs-whizzes-earth.html" target="_blank">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1377531/Asteroid-strong-15-atomic-bombs-whizzes-earth.html</a><a href="https://groups.google.com/d/msg/lankawebnet/_HVAyweq50A/umWpPlt_07QJ" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/d/msg/lankawebnet/_HVAyweq50A/umWpPlt_07QJ</a></blockquote>

Verification: Nawa warak dahaya keeyada? (Namaya wadi kireema dahaya)

Top Bottom