Sigh. I keep getting scooped. I’ve been meaning to write about what we learned in the actual real world about the asteroid 2007 TU24 — the one that missed us at the end of January and had no effect on us despite the cries of doom from others — but then Sean Welton of Visual Astronomy went and wrote up a good blog post about it!
So go read what he said. And check out JPL’s stuff too.
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
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February 5th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Damn it! It’s looking more and more like I’m going to have to pay off this credit card!
February 5th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Went over to tu24.org today. As suspected, they are claiming that, just because we can’t see the effects of the asteroid, they were there! Somebody even mentioned that world-wide earthquakes went from 116 the prior week to something like 160. Well, heck, that’s proof enough for me (wink-wink).
Then I looked a little further down, and found entries about the moon hoax and others from 9/11 conspiracy theorists.
Now we know what tu24.org is all about.
- Mikel
February 5th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
It did have effects!I have a headache now! It must have been 2007 TU24!
February 5th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Here’s one that the doomsayers - or the media or most everyone else - overlooked: a little one approached Earth to within 130,000 km earlier today. Not a record holder in any sense (at only 10 m diameter) but yet another ‘warning shot’ for the statistics …
February 5th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Wow. Just… wow. Happened to look over at TU24 dot org…
They’ve got a real strong “Magic Anti-Tiger Rock” fallacy going on over there.
Was there a storm yesterday? Temperature up? Temperature down? Earthquake? Bloody nose? Cough? Must a’ been due to 2007 TU24!
Yikes.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
My power went out this morning. Was it the asteroid or the thunderstorm? And what is this about thunderstorms in winter? I’m sure that asteroid has something to do with it!
February 5th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Ha, sorry to scoop ya on that one! I really do think, though, that we need to be researching some form of protection and not just prediction.
Sean
February 5th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
OMG! I had a toothache last week! It peaked on Wednesday! (The 30th.) Then it went away! And all the swelling went down! And I can’t stop typing exclamation points!!!!!!! Can it get any clearer than this?!?!?!
P.S. I’m sure the penicillin my dentist gave me had *nothing* to do with it.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I suspect that nua is chuckling about the continuing internet storm she created from deliberate foolish nonsense.
Of course, nua could be a middle-aged man who can barely reach his keyboard past his giant belly, but who cares? Attention is being paid to “nua” and that might be reward enough for that individual.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Just read Poster M’s comments to answer your concerns.
Can also add
* Up to the time of closest lateral point of approach to Earth, both NASA + JPL’s animated maps and supporting datums/tableaus depicted POSSIBLE IMPACT POINTS AS INCLUDING POINTS WITHIN THE PHYSICAL SPHERES OF EARTH AND MARS.
* NASA, JPL, and even Netters have yet to even address the tertiary phenomenon independently observed as occuring before andor during the passage of either TU24 or WD5. i.e. OBSERVED FIREBALLS + SPACE EXPLOSIONS/DETONATIONS.
Yes, its true that TU24 as studied since its discovery did not de facto strike/impact the Earth, but it is also true that TU24’s passage was NOT that of a singular or unified object, nor that of an empirically well-researched object. WE DON’T KNOW THE FULL MONTY/MAGNITUDE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN SPACE vv the TU24 AND WD5 PASSAGE
EVENT. A WHOLE BUNCH OF UNKNOWN FIREBALLS WENT PAST CLOSE TO EARTH AND NOT ONE BMD OR GMD SATELLITE OR INTERCEPT MISSLE WAS READY IR EVEN IN EXISTENCE TO DEFEND EARTH.
IMO, despite all the measurements and techy animated maps, etc. the ONLY thing one can claim with CERTAINTY IS THAT HUMANITY IS STILL ALIVE AS OF TODAY’S DATE.
IMO again, TU24 and WD5 should properly be viewed as “near 9-11’s” where Astronomical-Space Science, Detection, and Earth Awareness-Safety are concerned. BY NASA’s own scope, the US database on NEOS will NOT be complete until Year 2020 or after - IOW, WE’RE NOT SAFE FROM ANY AND ALL NEOS UNTIL 2020 OR AFTER.
Needs to be better.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
@Joseph,
please up your meds.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:43 am
JosephMendiola writes:
[[OBSERVED FIREBALLS + SPACE EXPLOSIONS/DETONATIONS.
Yes, its true that TU24 as studied since its discovery did not de facto strike/impact the Earth, but it is also true that TU24’s passage was NOT that of a singular or unified object, nor that of an empirically well-researched object. WE DON’T KNOW THE FULL MONTY/MAGNITUDE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN SPACE vv the TU24 AND WD5 PASSAGE
EVENT. A WHOLE BUNCH OF UNKNOWN FIREBALLS WENT PAST CLOSE TO EARTH AND NOT ONE BMD OR GMD SATELLITE OR INTERCEPT MISSLE WAS READY IR EVEN IN EXISTENCE TO DEFEND EARTH.]]
Joseph, the fireballs and space explosions have no objective existence. They were made up. Didn’t happen.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Barton, you shouldn’t be be questioning Joseph’s statements. They have to be right because they use LOTS OF CAPITAL LETTERS!
February 6th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Don’t forget the classy asterisks and (obnoxious) acronyms! Also, you could switch off of the diet of steroids and meth.
March 15th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Uh ..I dunno about that. Steroids and meths are pretty addictive!
(Mind you, they tend to kill one off pretty quickly too. Even other alcoholics - like me - tend to look down on the Metho-drinking set!
March 15th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Hey! _I_ didn’t write : “your comment is awaiting moderation!”