“Potentially Hazardous” Asteroid to Skim Earth Just Days before Christmas

Megalith

Megalith

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A massive asteroid is set to skim the Earth on December 16, just over a week before Christmas. With a diameter of about 3 miles, the asteroid -- named 3200 Phaethon after the Greek demi-god who, according to legend, nearly set the Earth on fire -- is classified as "potentially hazardous" by the Minor Planet Center. Unlike its namesake, however, 3200 Phaethon is unlikely to destroy our planet.

It will pass within 6.5 million miles of the Earth, which is relatively close in space terms, but still around 27 times the distance of the moon. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are planning to use the opportunity to obtain a detailed 3D model of the asteroid, which has a particularly irregular shape. First detected in December 2007, 3200 Phaethon is widely thought to be the parent body for the Geminid meteor shower, which this year is due to peak on the night of December 13.
 
I'm calling bs. This isn't even listed on Spaceweather.com 27 LD is HUGE. This is a non-story even if it's true (which I'm incredibly suspect of)
 
Will this effect the tides? Us mostly water beings be affected? Will the Thermaltake Tower 900 be cool again?
 
...as hundreds of thousands of dormant Von Neumann drones, hidden in rocky crevices, wake due to the proximity of our radio emissions as the mysterious monolith approaches...
 
viscountalpha said:
I'm calling bs. This isn't even listed on Spaceweather.com 27 LD is HUGE. This is a non-story even if it's true (which I'm incredibly suspect of)
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First place I checked too, Looks like maybe 20LD is the maximum distance listed in the chart but I bet a little closer to the date they will have a blurb about it. Look at last week, a 0.4 and 0.2 lunar distance miss for two objects, though they were quite tiny and not visible without at least binoculars. I always look there and see if something visible to the unaided eye might pass by when I can see it.
 
Would be worth it if the impact point was the kardashian and jenners pre christmas party.
 
How potentially hazardous is an asteroid that misses Earth by 6 million miles? It won't do any more harm than one that misses Earth by 60 million or 6 thousand miles.
 
Dullard said:
How potentially hazardous is an asteroid that misses Earth by 6 million miles? It won't do any more harm than one that misses Earth by 60 million or 6 thousand miles.
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Other than fragments that calve from the parent asteroid, nothing.
 
0neTwo said:
27 times the distance to the moon.

"But how can I make the thread title interesting enough for clicks? Oh I got it...."
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And thus why I almost always ignore Megalith's front page shit posts.

If it's not on fire, it's not news to him. His incendiary headlines always seem to ignore official redaction that happened before he posted the "story,"or just show a complete inability to state facts clearly.
 
defaultluser said:
And thus why I almost always ignore Megalith's front page shit posts.

If it's not on fire, it's not news to him. His incendiary headlines always seem to ignore official redaction that happened before he posted the "story,"or just show a complete inability to state facts clearly.
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You don't have to like Megalith's work, but you should try doing some more thinking before you comment...................

The asteroid was first spotted in 2007, and people think it brings us an annual meteor shower.

First detected in December 2007, 3200 Phaethon is widely thought to be the parent body for the Geminid meteor shower, which this year is due to peak on the night of December 13.
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So it's been out there awhile and it's been bringing us fireworks every year, and this year it's closer than any previous year that we know of .......

“Potentially Hazardous”
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As the asteroid's approach next month will be the closest to Earth since 1974 - and until after 2093
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So there is a cycle to it, sometimes it's closer, sometimes not. I think there is room for the word "potentially" because everything is in the timing.

But I don't see any reason to hate on Megalith on this one.

Your not one of his ex's are you?

I mean if you are, it's cool, not my business you know.

p.s. He posted the "27 times the distance to the moon" shit himself so he wasn't leaving up it to someone else to point out.
 
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