another holiday astroid

[space otter]

ah those space rocks must wanna party...bwahahahahahahahah

http://www.iflscience.com/space/giant-distance-asteroid-will-zip-past-earth-christmas-eve

Enormous Asteroid Will Zip Past Earth On Christmas Eve

December 20, 2015 | by Tom Hale

Photo credit:  Arecibo Observatory/NASA/NSF

Christmas Eve is going to be a busy night in space for Earth-dwellers. Not only will the International Space Station (ISS) be visible over the U.K. on Christmas Eve, but there will also be a giant asteroid passing over Earth. And Santa's sleigh will be up there too, obviously.

The asteroid, known as both 163899 and 2003 SD220, will pass Earth on Christmas Eve at 8 kilometers (5 miles) per second. While initial reports estimated the asteroid to be between 0.7 and 1.3 kilometers (0.4 and 0.8 miles) in diameter, recent findings from the Arecibo Observatory say it's more likely to be around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) in size.

Despite claims that this asteroid "could cause earthquakes and volcanoes," the space rock will harmlessly fly over Earth at a distance of 11 million kilometers (6.8 million miles) – that's around 28 times the distance from the Moon.

Unfortunately, this distance means you won't be able to see the asteroid, unless you have a radio telescope like the one at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico that gathered this information. Even using a light telescope, the asteroid will be too distant to see.


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An asteroid is shown flying by Earth in an illustration featuring images from NASA. (Shutterstock)

holy crap look at that caption..



http://abc7.com/weather/large-asteroid-to-pass-by-earth-on-christmas-eve/1126271/

Thursday, December 17, 2015 08:48AM

bunch of tweet thingies mixed in on the link

A large object is expected to fly through the sky on Christmas Eve, but it's not a sleigh with eight reindeer and a guy in a big red suit. A giant asteroid will be flying by Earth just in time for the holiday.

Asteroid 2003 SD220 will pass within 7 million miles of Earth on Dec. 24. That's 28 times the distance to the moon, which is a safe distance, according to EarthSky.org.

Although the asteroid was discovered in 2003 and is fairly well-known, the timing of this visit has prompted social media users to make references to Santa and the star of Bethlehem.

Don't get visions of the sky lit up dancing in your head, though. Earth Sky says the object probably won't be visible with an amateur telescope, but scientists will be studying it.

At 1.25 miles across, the chicken tender-shaped asteroid is considered very large, but scientists have refuted the rumors that it is large enough to cause earthquakes.


The asteroid is next expected to stop by in 2018, and NASA says it won't come within a dangerous distance for at least 200 years.


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and in looking for a third souce ( I always do at least three)
I had a good laugh at these headlines.....sooooo something gor everybody..
it is Christmas right?..
so if there are disasters you'll know this guy had the scoop   

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2015/12/16/enormous-christmas-eve-asteroid-sparks

Brad Ryder
12/16/2015 9:40am EST
 
Enormous Christmas Eve Asteroid Sparks Fears: 'Potentially Hazardous' Space Rock Could Cause Earthquakes, Wake Dormant Volcanoes



A massive asteroid flying by Earth on 2015 Christmas Eve has scientists on edge. While NASA is downplaying the threat to human life and property, conspiracy theorists and several experts say space rock 2003 SD220 is larger than believed and has the potential to cause deadly earthquakes and eruptions from dormant volcanoes.

According to a Sun report, the Christmas Eve asteroid is one of at least 10 rocky bodies in space that are considered "potentially hazardous" to Earth. According to an internal report, NASA officials say it measures about 1.5 miles wide and is moving at 5 miles per second.

"Little is known about the remaining 10 high-priority targets other than the absolute magnitudes and their heliocentric orbits that make six of them potentially hazardous to Earth."

In a separate report, Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, issued a statement on the widespread rumors.

"There is no scientific basis -- not one shred of evidence -- that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates.

"If there were any object large enough to do that type of destruction in September, we would have seen something of it by now.

Sources say the asteroid flyby on Christmas Eve poses little threat as it will only come within 6.7 million miles to the planet. By comparison, that's 28 times the distance from here to the moon. Further, you'll need a telescope to view the chunky body.

Extraterrestrial collusion theorists who believe in a Planet X or Nibiru, are not convinced of the recent announcement that downplays potential threats of an impact.

Cosmic naysayers believe the asteroid is, at least, four times the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System. They think it will fly by the planet by year's end and destroy all life forms due to its inescapable gravitational pull.

Don't worry; if you miss the 2015 holiday asteroid (or it misses us), you can see it in December of 2018 and 2021.