An “Asteroid” Discovered Last Year Just Turned Out to Be Something Way Cooler
An asteroid discovered orbiting the Sun in December last year has disclosed a fun surprise: it is not one asteroid, but two, barred in their own binary orbit around a mutual center of gravity.
The object is named 2017 YE5 (as in “YE5 a surprise second asteroid, hooray!”)*, and once it had been 1st detected on twenty-one December 2017, it had been angular in such some way that astronomers could not tell whether or not it had been 2 objects, or 2 lobes of a similar object joined by a slender waist – like extraterrestrial object 67P. [1]
Characterization of Eight Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Asteroids: Rotation Period Analysis and Structure Modeling Via Light Curve Inversion Techniques
The term “homeland security”, appears to own become synonymous with coercion within the minds of the final public. However, their are different threats to the safety of u. s. mother country that maybe even as, if less, devastating than coercion. enclosed among these different threats is that the potential of Associate in Nursing asteroid collision with Earth. traditionally, asteroid impact events are chargeable for the devastation of our planet and lots of the mass extinction events encountered throughout the earth science record. information of physical parameters equivalent to structure and movement dynamics of the asteroid are vital parameters in developing interception and deflection techniques, moreover as assessing the danger related to these bodies and mitigation coming up with within the event of the impact. [2]
Defending the earth from long-period comets and sneaky asteroids: Short-term threat response requires long-term preparation
Comets, admire the recent extraterrestrial object C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) will impact terrestrial planets with terribly short warning times: for Siding Spring the time from discovery to nearest approach to Mars (135,000 km) was under twenty-two months. Short warning times are attainable for sure asteroids approaching on unfavorable orbits, e.g., from the direction of the Sun. The time needed to style, build, check and launch a high-reliability attack aircraft space vehicle is on the order of five years, a timescale incompatible with threat mitigation for such short warning times. a possible resolution is to make the attack aircraft before the threat is detected and place it into storage till it’s needed. [3]
Unusual polarimetric properties of (101955) Bennu: similarities with F-class asteroids and cometary bodies
We have obtained polarimetric measurements of asteroid (101955) Bennu, a presumptively primitive near-Earth object (NEO) that’s the target of NASA’s sample come to mission OSIRIS-REx. throughout our observant campaign, Bennu was visible from Earth below a large vary of illumination conditions, with phase-angle within the vary sixteen to fifty-seven degrees. in conjunction with (3200) Phaethon and (152679) 1998 KU2, determined terribly recently, Bennu is that the sole existing example of a primitive modern determined in polarimetric mode over a large interval of section angles. [4]
How the Deccan Volcanism and the Chicxulub Asteroid Impact Resulted in the Biological Crisis Ending the Mesozoic Era
The direct causes for the end-Cretaceous biological crisis are still enigmatic despite the various studies dispensed at the Chicxulub asteroid impact website and within the Indian late Cretaceous Deccan volcanic province. None of the mentioned physical and chemical devastating factors explained the selective extinction-survival pattern. the current study analyzes the vulnerability of faunal and floral teams to an explosive ecological disaster because of the results of the incidental co-occurrence of the asteroid impact throughout Deccan geological phenomenon. Their combined ejecta should have shaded the daylight, ceasing chemical action for regarding 2-3 years and lowering the temperature on earth, that should are crucial for cold-blooded reptiles. The darkening would have blurred seasonality, drastically reducing floral blooming, fruition and organism copy, all of that resulted in the collapse of the marine and terrestrial food-chain and prey-predator relationships. except for death by starvation, the most killing was dispensed by the organisms themselves through a Darwinian struggle forever resulting in a selective elimination of the briefly vulnerable taxa. Those that succeeded to flee tailored to refuge sites and survived. [5]
Reference
[1] An “Asteroid” Discovered Last Year Just Turned Out to Be Something Way Cooler
[2] Characterization of Eight Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Asteroids: Rotation Period Analysis and Structure Modeling Via Light Curve Inversion Techniques
Hicks SJ. Characterization of Eight Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Asteroids: Rotation Period Analysis and Structure Modeling Via Light Curve Inversion Techniques. (web link)
[3] Defending the earth from long-period comets and sneaky asteroids: Short-term threat response requires long-term preparation
Nuth JA, Barbee B, Leung R. Defending the earth from long-period comets and sneaky asteroids: Short term threat response requires long term preparation. Journal of Space Safety Engineering. 2018 Aug 23. (web link)
[4] Unusual polarimetric properties of (101955) Bennu: similarities with F-class asteroids and cometary bodies
Cellino A, Bagnulo S, Belskaya IN, Christou AA. Unusual polarimetric properties of (101955) Bennu: similarities with F-class asteroids and cometary bodies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. 2018 Aug 23. (web link)
[5] How the Deccan Volcanism and the Chicxulub Asteroid Impact Resulted in the Biological Crisis Ending the Mesozoic Era
Zeev Lewy1*
1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Yisrael St., Jerusalem 95501, Israel. (Web link)