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Re: Signs in the heavens
Here are the important comments to us conspirators from the "chat":
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceno...-are-comi.html
With me to chat about the science of asteroids is Scott Fisher a program director of the NSF’s Division of Astronomical Sciences. And joining him is Don Yeomans, a NASA project scientist for the Hyabusa mission.
3:01 Comment From ptowngirl
Is there any chance what-so-ever of the asteroid going off it's expected course and hitting the moon or earth??
3:01 Donald Yeomans:
The orbit of asteroid 2005 YU55 is very well known because of previous optical and radar observations so there is NO CHANCE that this object will collide with the Earth or Moon.
3:03 Comment From J
Whats the cheaper telescope I could buy to view this Asteroid and where should I look..? (in the Sky)
3:03 Scott:
Hi J, It turns out that YU 55 is going to be pretty faint when it flies by... It will not be visible to the naked eye, you will need a telescope that has a mirror at least 6" in size to see it. To make it even more difficult to observe.. it will be moving VERY quickly across the sky as it passes.
3:08 Comment From susan
because of Asteroid YU 55 close proximity to earth on nov 9,2011 is there a chance it will be caught up in our planet's gravity,since it is coming closer to us than our moon, that is something that concern's me and a few other people, that our planet will pull that Asteroid down on us.
3:10 Scott:
Hi Susan, There is no reason to worry about YU 55 getting caught up in the gravity of the Earth. Through our observations of the object, we know that there is NO chance of it impacting either the Earth or the Moon for at least the next 100 years.
3:11 Comment From regina petersen-daniels
Is thier a relation to the Tsunami drill that is going to be happening at the same time that 2005YU55 is flying over us, a drill has never been done before at this scale~~why now? Is it possible that they are worried about the trojectory being affected by some variable?
3:11 Scott:
Hi Regina, There is no connection between the tsunami drill and the YU 55 flyby. My understanding is that the large-scale nature of the tsunami drill is likely due to the fact that we (the Earth) has experienced two very large tsunami events in the last 5 years or so. We (the human race) are starting to recognize that we need to be prepared for these events, the large-scale drill is a way that we are starting to prepare.
3:15 Comment From Roger from Belmont
Will this be able to be viewed in the northern hemisphere and if so, when will be the right time
3:16 Scott:
It turns out that YU 55 will be observable from the northern hemisphere, in fact, the radar telescopes that are going to observe the fly-by are in North America. The best time to observe it would be in the early evening on November 8th from the east coast of the US. However! It is going to be VERY faint, even at its closest approach. You will need a decent sized telescope to be able to actually see the object as it flies by.
Here are the important comments to us conspirators from the "chat":
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceno...-are-comi.html
With me to chat about the science of asteroids is Scott Fisher a program director of the NSF’s Division of Astronomical Sciences. And joining him is Don Yeomans, a NASA project scientist for the Hyabusa mission.
3:01 Comment From ptowngirl
Is there any chance what-so-ever of the asteroid going off it's expected course and hitting the moon or earth??
3:01 Donald Yeomans:
The orbit of asteroid 2005 YU55 is very well known because of previous optical and radar observations so there is NO CHANCE that this object will collide with the Earth or Moon.
3:03 Comment From J
Whats the cheaper telescope I could buy to view this Asteroid and where should I look..? (in the Sky)
3:03 Scott:
Hi J, It turns out that YU 55 is going to be pretty faint when it flies by... It will not be visible to the naked eye, you will need a telescope that has a mirror at least 6" in size to see it. To make it even more difficult to observe.. it will be moving VERY quickly across the sky as it passes.
3:08 Comment From susan
because of Asteroid YU 55 close proximity to earth on nov 9,2011 is there a chance it will be caught up in our planet's gravity,since it is coming closer to us than our moon, that is something that concern's me and a few other people, that our planet will pull that Asteroid down on us.
3:10 Scott:
Hi Susan, There is no reason to worry about YU 55 getting caught up in the gravity of the Earth. Through our observations of the object, we know that there is NO chance of it impacting either the Earth or the Moon for at least the next 100 years.
3:11 Comment From regina petersen-daniels
Is thier a relation to the Tsunami drill that is going to be happening at the same time that 2005YU55 is flying over us, a drill has never been done before at this scale~~why now? Is it possible that they are worried about the trojectory being affected by some variable?
3:11 Scott:
Hi Regina, There is no connection between the tsunami drill and the YU 55 flyby. My understanding is that the large-scale nature of the tsunami drill is likely due to the fact that we (the Earth) has experienced two very large tsunami events in the last 5 years or so. We (the human race) are starting to recognize that we need to be prepared for these events, the large-scale drill is a way that we are starting to prepare.
3:15 Comment From Roger from Belmont
Will this be able to be viewed in the northern hemisphere and if so, when will be the right time
3:16 Scott:
It turns out that YU 55 will be observable from the northern hemisphere, in fact, the radar telescopes that are going to observe the fly-by are in North America. The best time to observe it would be in the early evening on November 8th from the east coast of the US. However! It is going to be VERY faint, even at its closest approach. You will need a decent sized telescope to be able to actually see the object as it flies by.
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