Asteroid (Page 14)

First, something enormous strikes Jupiter. Then a huge spot appears on Venus. Now, something has smashed through Saturn’s F ring. Is our solar system under bombardment by an asteroid swarm? So far, nobody is sure. We just hope whatever it is doesn’t hit the earth next!

The Discover website reports that the Cassini satellite, which has been orbiting Saturn for 5 years, has sent us an image of what looks like a object lodged in one of the planet’s thinner rings. Let’s hope that we here on earth don’t have to start ducking soon.

The BEST edge information on the web is available on our Out There section, which is updated daily. And remember: We can’t stay out there for you without your help!

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But why? – Information from military satellites about incoming asteroids has always been given to scientists in the past, but now the military has suddenly classified the information.

A recent US military policy decision now explicitly states that observations by spy satellites of incoming fireballs have been classified as secret so they cannot be released. These are satellites that detect nuclear bomb sites and tests, such as those in North Korea and Iran. As a side effect, they have also detected potentially incoming asteroids. This means that incoming space rocks that may explode in our atmosphere are now classified, so we cannot be prepared for a possible cataclysm.
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A newly-discovered asteroid flew past earth on March 17 a little over twice the distance of a manmade orbiting satellite. This is the SECOND time in March that an asteroid has flown so close to us. All these asteroids are too small to cause major damage, but an impact could cause local damage of the type seen in Tunguska. We often didn’t notice flybys of such small objects in the past, but improved asteroid searches mean that we are now aware of them.

Art credit: gimp-savvy.com
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But in a different way this time – Here’s another cataclysm that wiped out much of the life on earth in the past: multiple impacts from comets and asteroids sent up dust that blocked out sunlight, causing a major food shortage. Could this happen today? NASA is trying to make sure it doesn’t by spotting asteroids BEFORE they strike. But it might not take a space rock to cause famine toda–climate change might do it instead, n HALF of the world, anyway.

Astronomers all over the world now are trying to make sure this never happens again. NASA admits they haven’t always done this: in BBC News, Laurence Peter quotes Don Yeomans as saying, "It’s getting much more predictable. Before 1998 we hadn’t found many and didn’t do much follow-up."
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