Meet "the Beast"....on a close call with Earth.

[Skidmore]

And its not even a RWNJ pol.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/07/asteroid-hq124-dubbed-the-beast-expected-to-approach-earth-this-weekend/



Asteroid HQ124 — dubbed ‘the Beast’ — expected to approach Earth this weekend
By RedOrbit
Saturday, June 7, 2014 10:16 EDT

Last year, a massive asteroid that had gone undetected exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in a huge fireball and another, much bigger asteroid spotted in April is expected to buzz past Earth this weekend.

While the incoming HQ124 asteroid, aka “the Beast,” is not expected to make contact with the Earth’s atmosphere, professional skywatchers will be keeping close tabs on the massive space rock nonetheless.

“What’s disconcerting is that a rocky/metallic body this large, and coming so very close, should have only first been discovered this soon before its nearest approach,” Bob Berman, an astronomer with the online astronomy collective Slooh, told National Geographic. “HQ124 is at least 10 times bigger, and possibly 20 times, than the asteroid that injured a thousand people last year in Chelyabinsk.”

According to reports, the Beast is nearly 1,100 feet wide – about three-and-a-half football fields. ...more

[StarryNite]

1. Duck and Cover!

[Louisiana1976]

2. "The Beast" is a good name for it. Sounds scary.

[spin]

3. The article states that it's not expected to make contact with the earth's atmosphere. ...

I agree that is highly unlikely as at the closest it will be three times the distance of the moon from us! I wouldn't even call this a close miss. However it is disturbing that it was not detected before April 23.

'Beast' asteroid to zoom past Earth
Carolyn Pesce, USA TODAY 1:14 p.m. EDT June 7, 2014

A giant asteroid astronomers are calling "The Beast'' will fly by Earth early Sunday morning at speeds of up to 31,000 mph — and although there's no chance of it hitting our planet, experts say its massive size makes it something to take seriously.

***snip***

The HQ124 asteroid is expected to be at least three lunar distances away when it zooms by Earth, according to Space.com. That's within 777,000 miles of Earth and about 3.25 times the distance from the Earth to the moon, says Scientific American. Slooh will broadcast the HQ124 event live.

HQ124 wasn't spotted by NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer until April 23 — which experts say is a long time for it to go unnoticed. The infrared Explorer picked it up against a backdrop of stars, according to National Geographic.

"What's disconcerting is that a rocky/metallic body this large, and coming so very close, should have only first been discovered this soon before its nearest approach," Berman said. "If it were to impact us, the energy released would be measured not in kilotons like the atomic bombs that ended World War II, but in H-bomb type megatons."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/06/07/giant-asteroid-flies-by-earth/10161829/

[Skidmore]

4. It's more than close enough for me.

[L0oniX]

5. Whow!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. There are scientists who admit, we could be hit by an asteroid we never even see nt

[Fred Sanders]

7. That is not a beast, that is a cosmic pebble.

Here is a beast:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(153814)_2001_WN5

[Skidmore]

9. Yikes! Had to look that one up.

That is scary.

[smallcat88]

8. Seems like the only

ones that hit the Earth are the ones we don't notice in advance. A little unnerving.

[AverageJoe90]

10. Frankly, I suspect that 99% of the blame for the detection problem.....

Can be squarely placed on the fact that we haven't allocated nearly enough funding towards NASA and other organizations that could help us track stuff like this. I'll just say it now: Fuck the crooks in the military-industrial complex. Fuck 'em all.

[NightWatcher]

11. Dude, did it just whiz by?

All the trees in my yard just swayed a little bit to the left then back to the right?

[Dragonfli]

12. luckily, the Rock Jocks were able to push it off course of a collision

before their budget was cut!

Any government agency smart enough to have Felicia Day on staff is an agency worth funding