Bob1
July 3rd, 2006, 06:27 PM
From Satuday's Jersey Journal:
An asteroid visit a thing to ponder
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Sometimes it is difficult to take seriously the axiom "don't sweat the little things" because the definition of "little" is variable. Then and again, something comes our way that makes people believe that after their experience they can definitely easily handle the small things.
For some it may be a serious illness or dealing with tragic circumstances. Then every once in awhile, there are cosmic encounters. Something to ponder is the asteroid designated 2004 XP14.
Astronomers have a quaint way of saying that there is nothing to worry about, but there is a solid piece of metal, about a quarter of a mile wide, that will buzz our planet. It will miss us by 400,000 kilometers, and that is about the same distance between the Earth and the Moon.
It has been theorized that celestial bodies of this size in the past - millions of years ago - have been responsible for extinctions on our planet.
Amateurs with telescopes. They will have to be good at preparing to track XP14. The fast moving asteroid is expected to rise quickly in the northeast after midnight on Monday morning. When it does, its angle will be about the size of the full moon for a brief period under 10 minutes.
Let us hope our space scientists made no mistakes in their calculations, and we will not sweat the little things.
An asteroid visit a thing to ponder
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Sometimes it is difficult to take seriously the axiom "don't sweat the little things" because the definition of "little" is variable. Then and again, something comes our way that makes people believe that after their experience they can definitely easily handle the small things.
For some it may be a serious illness or dealing with tragic circumstances. Then every once in awhile, there are cosmic encounters. Something to ponder is the asteroid designated 2004 XP14.
Astronomers have a quaint way of saying that there is nothing to worry about, but there is a solid piece of metal, about a quarter of a mile wide, that will buzz our planet. It will miss us by 400,000 kilometers, and that is about the same distance between the Earth and the Moon.
It has been theorized that celestial bodies of this size in the past - millions of years ago - have been responsible for extinctions on our planet.
Amateurs with telescopes. They will have to be good at preparing to track XP14. The fast moving asteroid is expected to rise quickly in the northeast after midnight on Monday morning. When it does, its angle will be about the size of the full moon for a brief period under 10 minutes.
Let us hope our space scientists made no mistakes in their calculations, and we will not sweat the little things.