next »

Incoming Asteroid

SpaceWeather.com
Mon, 06 Oct 2008

A small, newly-discovered asteroid named 2008 TC3 is approaching Earth and chances are good that it will hit. Steve Chesley of JPL estimates that atmospheric entry will occur on Oct 7th at 0246 UTC over northern Sudan [ref]. Measuring only a few meters across, the space rock poses NO THREAT to people or structures on the ground, but it should create a spectacular fireball, releasing about a kiloton of TNT in energy as it disintegrates and explodes in the atmosphere. Odds are between 99.8 and 100 percent that the object will encounter Earth, according to calculations provided by Andrea Milani of the University of Pisa. {ephemeris} {3D orbit} 

Hello,
How does one figure ones timezone relative to UTC?
This timing is fascinating!  
10/07/08 seems from this perspective to have the potential to be a very busy and interesting day.
Showtime?  
 

Laurelayn

  

Incoming Asteroid

SpaceWeather.com
Mon, 06 Oct 2008

A small, newly-discovered asteroid named 2008 TC3 is approaching Earth and chances are good that it will hit. Steve Chesley of JPL estimates that atmospheric entry will occur on Oct 7th at 0246 UTC over northern Sudan [ref]. Measuring only a few meters across, the space rock poses NO THREAT to people or structures on the ground, but it should create a spectacular fireball, releasing about a kiloton of TNT in energy as it disintegrates and explodes in the atmosphere. Odds are between 99.8 and 100 percent that the object will encounter Earth, according to calculations provided by Andrea Milani of the University of Pisa. {ephemeris} {3D orbit} 

October 7th   

What a coincidence! 

A popular date according to the web

Another version of the story (for more data) - http://www.sott.net/articles/show/167027-Space-rock-found-on-collision-course-with-Earth  ...

Good old October 7th - one wonders if they did 'just find' it or they've been tracking it for a while now.  Should be interesting.

Hello,
How does one figure ones timezone relative to UTC?
This timing is fascinating!  
10/07/08 seems from this perspective to have the potential to be a very busy and interesting day.
Showtime?  
 

Laurelayn

Easiest way is to lookup a world clock and compare it to your local time.

Example: go here World Clock

Find the time for London and compare it to your local time.

Or refresh the page - when London times says 'Tue 2:46 AM', the asteroid will have entered the atmosphere.

Also if you use a window PC open your clock settings and click the 'Tme Zone' tab, it will say something like 'GMT-08:00', that is similar to UTC minus 8 hours, you are 8 hours behind UTC.

A small aside:

I heard on the evening news the other day that they have moved "National Night Out" from August to Oct. 7.  We are all supposed to go out that night and meet our neighbors in support of "neighborhood watch" type programs.

[where]

I know this is cynical..... but, they would most likely wait until they had enough 'data' on where it was going to hit..... and even if it was going to hit.... before they announced that it was a meteor.  I'm assuming they have the technological know how to be able to work that out with a fair degree of certainty, too!

Of course, they wouldn't announce anything if it had a potential 'use' as a terrorist action by "al-qaeda".  This would save them money on bombs and 'fake' personnel.  And if "al-qaeda" pops up again, then that makes martial law easier too.  Much more easier than if an 'act of nature'  or a bunch of in bound space rocks happened to arrive.

It would of course be an act of deceit.  But, it seems to have worked pretty well so far.

Hello,
How does one figure ones timezone relative to UTC?
This timing is fascinating! 
10/07/08 seems from this perspective to have the potential to be a very busy and interesting day.
Showtime? 
 

Laurelayn

Easiest way is to lookup a world clock and compare it to your local time.

Example: go here World Clock

Find the time for London and compare it to your local time.

Or refresh the page - when London times says 'Tue 2:46 AM', the asteroid will have entered the atmosphere.

Also if you use a window PC open your clock settings and click the 'Tme Zone' tab, it will say something like 'GMT-08:00', that is similar to UTC minus 8 hours, you are 8 hours behind UTC.

London is one hour ahead of UTC during 'British Summer Time' (daylight savings) ie: UTC+1, so London Time of impact would be 3:46am. 

well... any forum members on that side of the planet who can take some pictures?  perhaps even a video?  sounds like it will be pretty spectacular, and visible from far away!

Another way is to use an Add-On called FoxClocks if you are using Firefox as your default browser. You can display UTC and local times of cities and countries of your choice which will then display in FireFox Status Bar. Very easy to use and configure.

Hello,
How does one figure ones timezone relative to UTC?
This timing is fascinating! 
10/07/08 seems from this perspective to have the potential to be a very busy and interesting day.
Showtime? 


Laurelayn

well... any forum members on that side of the planet who can take some pictures?  perhaps even a video?  sounds like it will be pretty spectacular, and visible from far away!

Well, i will set my alarm clock to 05:30AM in greek time (GMT+2) to give it a try..! The sky is clear at the time. So i better rush to...

P.S. It was nice knowing you all!
(late night black humour...excuse me!  )

ok, since the "prediction" has "come true" I'm gonna have a go too. This meteorite will be as small as they say, which would make it no more of an event than any of the dozens of other rocks that have hit over the past few years, and quite a bit smaller than many. I'm thinking here of orissa in 2004 (or 5) and the "house" that fell on spain in 2006. Check out the Sott meteorite supplement for lots more. The only interesting thing about this one is that it was spotted in advance - how did they spot something that small anyhoo? Of course, the timing is nevertheless very interesting...

there's an interesting thread going on over on yahoo tech groups relating to 2008 TC3, aka 8TA9D69

_http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mpml/message/21130

edit: lol, i just realized MPML is Ed Beshore's discussion group - Beshore is the one who discovered the asteroid.  apparently, if they find pieces on the ground and he gets one, he'll be the first astronomer to own a piece of the body he discovered.  neat!  here's the most recent message: _http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mpml/message/21158

- - -

edit #2: found some pre-impact photos.  here's the description, from _http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Eric-Allen-Allen1_1223348248.jpg -- and the photos below...

Image taken: Oct. 7, 2008
Location: Observatoire du Cegep de Trois-Rivieres, Champlain, Québec, Canada

Details:
The two images are combinations of unfiltered images of 10 seconds exposure each, separated by 10 seconds. The first image was taken at 01h32 UT October 7th and the second one was taken at 01h42 UT. Both were made with a 0,4m F4,4 Newtonian and a ST-9E. This asteroid was zooming!! One can see the enormous change of speed and direction in JUST 10 MINUTES!!! Amazing!! Unfortunately, I lost it behind trees ;-( But it was amazing still! I'm anxious to see images of the fireball!

and from _http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=58381&p=3&topicID=21306405&commentPage=3 -- the rough ground track & scatter zone

Kinda reminds me of what I "saw" in that funky mirror session on 5 July 2001:

VB:  Can you show Laura so she can describe to us, the catastrophic situation in our future, our near future?

Laura:  It seems as though it will be a progression.  Like the beginning of rain, when the first few big, cold drops fall; and then a pause followed by a few more drops; and then, a downpour.

VB:  Describe what you are seeing?

Laura:  I see rocks - but they aren't very large.  They are like the size of your fist.  Just a few.  And they make something of a stir.  An uproar.  People will be excited... very upset.  It looks like just two - two small rocks.  And then nothing else happens for awhile, and then they forget about it.  It all dies down.  And then, a third, a fourth, a fifth and a sixth - and maybe even a seventh... isolated events, or so it seems.  Still small.  And then, a big one.  All this will go on over a period of months.
 

The "size of the fist" rocks have already come, I think, recorded in the SOTT meteor blog.  I guess this is one of the bigger ones being described as "the size of a car." 

Can we have a chorus of "Showers From Heaven"?

When I first saw this article on the main SOTT page, I was going to write a farewell note to you all (we are on the Red Sea coast; fairly north of Sudan if you're walking, but right underneath if you're up in the atmosphere).

Then I find from this thread that the event has been and gone, without any seeming repercussions.

Everything is normal here; people just walking about enjoying themselves. No-one seems to be  talking about 'a flash of light in the sky' or 'percussion booms'.

So now we just wait for the drops to turn into a downpour?