Asteroid Impact

[barkis]

Spotted by Nasa,  minutes before it entered earth's atmosphere.
As the report stated, it was only 6 feet in diameter Phew!! thank goodness it's diameter wasn't 6 miles.
Could have been Bye Bye the Noo folks.

[nightfisher]

could have been a bad one

[furrysocks2]

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7148

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnBvSNYy-EY

[johnfosteruk]

Late detection of this object shows that we have a lot more to learn about protection from impacts like these!

That aside, it's a stunning fireball!

[barkis]

1 hour ago, furrysocks2 said:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7148

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnBvSNYy-EY

That is a stunning video from the ISS, What it must feel like to simply do nothing  stare at the earth below as you orbit around.
Has to be a thrill like no other, simply astounding. and fabulous imagery.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Bad day if it landed on your house. 

[Ruud]

Amazing! A six feet  asteroid!

[Paul M]

2 minutes ago, Ruud said:

Amazing! A six feet  asteroid!

 

Turned out to be a large insect....

[Shibby]

17 hours ago, barkis said:

thank goodness it's diameter wasn't 6 miles

I believe that almost all the large NEAs have been discovered. All those over a certain size (I think it was something like 140m diameter?).

[Demonperformer]

I suspect that the fact it was discovered only minutes before entering the atmosphere could have something to do with its size

Mind you, if it had been 6 miles across and we had known about it for a year, not sure what we would have done .... except, maybe, run around like headless chickens, mistaking activity for productivity. 

Hang on a minute ... isn't that what most people do most of the time anyway?

[barkis]

The Oort Cloud is reputed to be a shell of Frozen Ice bodies, allegedly formed by trillions of comets. slung shot by Jupiter.
Said to surround the Solar System at a distance  between 20 to 50 million AU's. Cometary bodies ejected from that region can be difficult to
detect because of the random way they can approach the Sun Small bodies targeting earth, offer very little, if any warning time. 

Whereas objects thrown out of the Kuiper Belt, approach on paths close to the Ecliptic, a much easier 
area to patrol for possible impactors. 
Recent Comets  we assume rode in from the Oort Cloud, were Hale Bopp, and Hayukate.

I often wonder how Voyagers One and Two the would see the Oort Cloud?  I believe Voyager 1 is 13 Billion miles away now, and Voyager 2 is  9 Billion Miles out.
Way past the Sun's influence now. Still a long way from that massive Ice shell though. I wonder how dense the population of bodies is there.

I'm not sure there would be enough light to see anything.
One would need a powerful torch ?.
Anyone can feel free to correct anything here that may be wrong.