Asteroid Due on Monday, May 15th to Whiz By-A Close Call

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

Wion just announced that an asteroid will come very close to earth in 72 hours which is 3 days, or by Sunday, May 15th.  It is now 6:27am in the morning.  The asteroid is supposed to be 1,600 feet wide.  How large is that?

Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. There are lots of asteroids in our solar system. Most of them are located in the main asteroid belt – a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

This one is dangerous to us, say the scientists, because of its size and closeness.  If it lands here, it will impact our us with long term destruction, forest fires, and changes to our climate, earthquakes, tsunamis; an effect similar to what happened to the previous tenants of earth-the dinosaurs!  This information comes from NASA.  

Don't worry, the scientists are quite sure it will not hit us.

About once a year, an automobile-sized asteroid hits Earth's atmosphere, creates an impressive fireball, and burns up before reaching the surface. 

Every 2,000 years or so, a meteoroid the size of a football field hits Earth and causes significant damage to the area.Mar 31, 2014  

Who have our astronomers been?

Famous American Astronomers

• 1 Neil deGrasse Tyson. 61 12. Famous As: Astrophysicist. ...
• 2 Carl Sagan. 43 7. Famous As: Astronomer, Astrophysicist. ...
• 3 Edwin Powell Hubble. 28 5. Famous As: Astronomer & Mathematician. ...
• 4 Clyde Tombaugh. 20 5. ...
• 5 Benjamin Banneker. 20 4. ...
• 6 Annie Jump Cannon. 20 4. ...
• 7 J. Allen Hynek. ...
• 8 Vera Rubin. 21 5.--Rubin was born on July 23, 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the younger of two sisters. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe: Pesach Kobchefski (Philip Cooper), born in Vilnius, Lithuania (then part of Poland), who Anglicized his name, and became an electrical engineer. He worked at Bell Telephone. He married Rose Applebaum, from Bessarabia (in present-day Moldova). They met at Bell, where Rose worked until they married.  Vera died on December 25, 2016.  

It's about two times as tall as The Golden Gate Bridge.The height of The Golden Gate Bridge is about 745 feet.

(San Francisco, California and Marin County, California) (height above water)

It's about two-and-a-half times as tall as The Space Needle

The height of The Space Needle is about 604 feet.

(Seattle, Washington) (to aircraft warning beacon at peak)

 

It's about three times as tall as St. Paul's Cathedral

The height of St. Paul's Cathedral is about 571 feet.

(London, England, United Kingdom)

 

It's about three times as tall as The Washington Monument

The height of The Washington Monument is about 555.410 feet.

(Washington, D.C.)

It's about three times as tall as The Singapore Flyer (Ferris wheel)

The height of The Singapore Flyer (Ferris wheel) is about 541 feet.

(a.k.a. 新加坡摩天观景轮, a.k.a. சிங்கப்பூர் ஃப்ளையர், a.k.a. Pelayang Singapura) (Marina Centre, Singapore)

Resource:

https://www.wionews.com/world/in-a-few-hours-a-1600-ft-wide-asteroid-will-come-close-to-earth-say-scientists-478358, Edited By: C Krishnasai

New Delhi Updated: May 12, 2022, 05:12 PM(IST)

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/overview/fastfacts.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Rubin