Looks like we dodged a bullet. A bullet-shaped asteroid that is. The 70-meter Goldstone radar dish, part of NASA’s Deep Space Network, grabbed a collage of photos of Earth-approaching asteroid 2014 SC324 during its close flyby last Friday October 24. These are the first-ever photos of the space rock which was discovered September 30 this year by the Mt. Lemmon Survey. The level of detail is amazing considering that the object is only about 197 feet (60-meters) across. You can also see how incredibly fast it’s rotating – about 30-45 minutes for a one spin.
In the cropped version, the shape is somewhat clearer with the asteroid appearing some four times longer than wide. 2014 SC324 belongs to the Apollo asteroid class, named for 1862 Apollo discovered in 1932 by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth. Apollo asteroids follow orbits that occasionally cross that of Earth’s, making them a potential threat to our planet. The famed February 15, 2013 Chelyabinsk fireball, with an approximate pre-atmospheric entry size of 59 feet (18-m), belonged to the Apollo class.
Lance Benner and colleagues at Goldstone also imaged another Apollo asteroid that passed through our neighborhood on October 19 called 2014 SM143. This larger object, estimated at around 650 feet (200-m) across, was discovered with the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Mt. Haleakala in Hawaii on September 17. Tell me we’re not some shiny ball on a solar system-sized pool table where the players fortunately miss their shot … most of the time.
Inaonekana kama sisi dodged risasi. Asteroid yenye umbo la risasi Chombo cha NASA kinachoitwa Goldstone, ambacho ni sehemu ya Shirika la Anga la Anga la NASA, kimepiga picha za asteroid ya 2014 SC324 iliyokuwa ikikaribia dunia wakati wa safari yake ya karibu ya Ijumaa, Oktoba 24. Picha hizi ni za kwanza kabisa za jiwe hilo lililogunduliwa Septemba 30 mwaka huu na Mt. Utafiti wa Lemmon. Uwezo wa kuchunguza vitu hivyo ni mkubwa sana kwa kuzingatia kwamba vitu hivyo vina urefu wa mita 60 tu. Unaweza pia kuona jinsi incredibly haraka ni kuzunguka <unk> kuhusu dakika 30-45 kwa spin moja. Katika toleo lililokatwa, umbo ni wazi zaidi na asteroid inaonekana mara nne kwa urefu kuliko upana. 2014 SC324 ni asteroid ya Apollo, ambayo ilipewa jina la Apollo 1862 iliyochimbuliwa na Karl Reinhardt. Asteroidi za Apollo hufuata mizunguko ambayo mara kwa mara hupita ile ya Dunia, na hivyo kuwa tisho la uwezekano kwa sayari yetu. Chelyabinsk Fireball, ambayo ilitokea Februari 15, 2013, ilikuwa ya darasa la Apollo. "Lance Benner na wenzake katika Goldstone pia walipiga picha ya asteroid nyingine ya Apollo ambayo ilipita katika ujirani wetu Oktoba 19, 2014 ""SM143.""" Kituo hicho kikubwa zaidi, ambacho kinakadiriwa kuwa na upana wa mita 200 hivi, kiligunduliwa na darubini ya Pan-STARRS-1 iliyokuwa kwenye Mlima Everest. Haleakala, Hawaii, Septemba 17, Niambie sisi si baadhi ya mpira glittering juu ya meza ya pool mfumo wa jua ukubwa ambapo wachezaji kwa bahati nzuri miss risasi yao... zaidi ya muda.