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Title: Three 30m asteroids headed this way, but ‘planet-killer’ Bennu may be hollow & spinning itself to DEATH
Source: [None]
URL Source: https://www.rt.com/news/506144-asteroids-earth-bennu-hollow/
Published: Nov 9, 2020
Author: staff
Post Date: 2020-11-09 09:44:39 by Ada
Keywords: None
Views: 610
Comments: 8

Three 30m asteroids headed this way, but ‘planet-killer’ Bennu may be hollow & spinning itself to DEATH

After avoiding catastrophe on election day in the US, in the form of asteroid 2018 VP1 of course, NASA is now warning of another three space rocks headed this way, while also suggesting the ‘planet-killer’ Bennu may be hollow.

As 2020 draws to a close, the threat from outer space remains as clear as ever, with three asteroids over 30 meters in diameter traveling Earth’s way this week alone, starting on November 10 with a double-header.

Measuring roughly half the size of the Statue of Liberty (46m), asteroid 2020 UN3 will pass the planet at a safe distance of 4.4 million kilometers. Not long after, and almost double the size, the 72-meter 2020 UL3, will shoot past at 5.8 million kilometers.

Lest anyone get too comfortable, however, on November 12, asteroid 2020 VC, measuring 34 meters in diameter or roughly half the wingspan of a 747 jet, is set to buzz the planet at a distance of 5.2 million kilometers.

Honorable mention goes to 2018 VS4, 23 meters in diameter (roughly half as tall as the Arc de Triomphe) and the 27-meter 2020 VC1 (half the Leaning Tower of Pisa), both of which will make a flyby of Earth this week but are not expected to pose any threat to humanity. Also on rt.com ‘Planet-killer’ asteroid Apophis SPEEDS UP en route to Earth, could strike in 2068 – study

Meanwhile, data from NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft, which recently pillaged the potential planet-killer asteroid Bennu for some of its dust, indicates this particular headline-stealing space rock may, in fact, be hollow.

Furthermore, not only is Bennu likely hollow, but it is also spinning rapidly, driving material to its surface and potentially tearing itself apart in the process.

Still some 321,868,800km away, Bennu has a one-in-2,700 chance of impacting Earth between 2175 and 2199.

In a recent study, University of Colorado researchers managed to calculate its gravity – and thus its mass – by tracking the motion of rocks flung outwards by the asteroid before they crashed back down on its surface. The findings lead the boffins to suspect that Bennu has an empty core. Also on rt.com ‘Very excited’ astronomers discover activity on rare CENTAUR hybrid of comet and asteroid

“It’s as if there is a void at its center, within which you could fit a couple of football fields,” Daniel Scheeres, who led the research, explained.

The latest data from the asteroid indicates that it completes one rotation every four hours, but that its rate of spin is increasing.

“You could imagine maybe in a million years or less, the whole thing flying apart,” Scheeres said.

The NASA team behind the incredible mission also found that Bennu’s rock was surprisingly soft, after the Osiris-Rex probe blasted the surface with a burst of nitrogen gas, rustling up much more material than expected, catching everyone off guard.

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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 6.

#1. To: Ada (#0)

Interesting. I guess that creates a new idea for destroying asteroids that are headed to earth. Land a motor on them and then start them spinning as rapidly as possible. In time they will break up.

Pinguinite  posted on  2020-11-09   10:09:27 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Pinguinite (#1)

Anchoring that motor securely enough on the asteroid would be a real trick. Might be easier to just mash the Hyperspace button?

StraitGate  posted on  2020-11-09   15:00:34 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: StraitGate (#2)

LOL! You think this is a pipe dream?

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2020-11-09   15:18:42 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: NeoconsNailed, Pinguinite (#3)

When playing the arcade version of Asteroids (the ONLY video game I ever played, and only briefly when hanging out at the Kroger store with ex-girlfriend's brothers where then current girlfriend and future and only wife worked), you'd mash the Hyperspace button only as a last ditch effort to avoid getting destroyed by one or usually several approaching asteroids. Mashing Hyperspace made your spaceship momentarily disappear, then re-appear at a random and hopefully more favorable place on the screen. Alas, using Hyperspace your ship often translated from frying pan to fireball.

en.wikiped ia.org/wiki/Asteroids_(video_game)

StraitGate  posted on  2020-11-09   19:42:59 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: StraitGate (#5)

Alas, using Hyperspace your ship often translated from frying pan to fireball.

Sort of like voting?

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2020-11-09   20:19:50 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


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