Buzzing asteroids, solar eruptions no April Fools' pranks

[Buster's Uncle]

Buzzing asteroids, solar eruptions no April Fools' pranks
April kicks off with a particularly wild weekend of space weather as the sun shoots off explosions and space rocks make close passes.
CNET
by  Eric Mack  April 3, 2017 2:19 PM PDT



NASA/SDO



The sun didn't get the memo about April Fools' Day, because the eruptions it hurled into space starting April 1 were no joke.

The flares were followed soon after by a pair of small asteroids making close passes by Earth, all adding up to some lively space weather you probably didn't even notice.

On Saturday a sunspot tediously named AR 2644 suddenly exploded, throwing off an M4.4-class (medium-size) solar flare. The flare lasted less than a day and was the strongest one of the year so far, at least until Sunday when the same spot shot off an M5 flare.



The sun shoots off multiple coronal mass ejections.  NOAA SWPC / Video capture by Eric Mack/CNET


That wasn't the only type of explosion our star fired off over the weekend. A number of coronal mass ejections -- much larger, slower-moving and shorter explosions of a hot material called plasma -- were also thrown off. Fortunately, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center says none of these eruptions will hit Earth.

It's important to note neither the plasma from a CME nor the highly energetic particles from flares typically threaten humans or even make their way past Earth's magnetic field. According to NASA, powerful flares (typically X-class) can mess with the part of the atmosphere where radio waves travel and sometimes degrade communications signals. If a powerful CME were to level a direct hit on Earth, on the other hand, it could mess with communications and GPS signals and possibly even disrupt parts of the electrical grid that are unprepared for such an event.

However, if either of the asteroids that came near us Sunday and Monday had scored a direct hit with Earth's surface, they would have left a much more tangible mark.

Asteroid 2017 FU102, which is about 26 feet (8 meters) long, came within about 143,000 miles (230,000 km) of Earth -- that's about 60 percent of the distance between here and the moon. It was followed just hours later early Monday by the slightly smaller Asteroid 2017 FT102, which passed at just a little farther than the distance to the moon (238,856 miles or 384,402 km).

A handful of small asteroids might be spotted passing by Earth closer than the moon each month, but it's a little unusual to see two buzz by in quick succession. While these two came close, celestially speaking, we've also seen space rocks come much closer this year without doing any damage.

So nothing to worry about after an especially active weekend for space weather. But it's always good to know what's going on beyond the confines of our nifty little atmosphere, because sometimes things sneak up on us like they did in Russia a few years back.


https://www.cnet.com/news/asteroids-solar-flares-coronal-mass-ejections-space-weather/

[gwillybj]

A Car-Size Asteroid Just Whipped by Earth
By Sarah Lewin, Staff Writer | April 4, 2017 03:40pm ET

A car-size asteroid was caught on camera just before it approached within 10,100 miles (16,300 km) of Earth today (April 4) — less than one-twentieth the distance from Earth to the moon.

The 12-foot-wide (3.6 meters) celestial visitor, called 2017 GM, whipped by at 11.5 miles per second (18.5 kilometers per second) compared to Earth early this morning. Scientists at the Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona first spotted the asteroid yesterday, and researchers with Virtual Telescope Project and Tengara Observatories also snapped a photo before its closest approach with an Arizona telescope.


Gianluca Masi (Virtual Telescope Project) and Michael Schwartz (Tengara Observatories) captured this view of the 12 foot wide (3.6 meters) asteroid 2017 GM as it approached Earth April 4, 2017 using a telescope in Arizona. The telescope tracked the asteroid, meaning the surrounding stars appear as streaks.
Credit: Gianluca Masi/The Virtual Telescope Project; Michael Schwartz/Tengara Observatories, Ltd

Based on its orbit, the little asteroid likely last passed by Earth in March 1961, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. However, it was much farther away that time — about 93 times the average Earth-moon distance, . It whipped far out after that, but eventually swung by Mars and Venus in 2013 and 2014, respectively, before making its way back to Earth. It's the 15th object to make a close approach to Earth this month, and it came by far the closest to our planet, according to the NASA data.

In March, a 10-foot-wide (3 m) object came 1,000 miles (1,600 km) closer to Earth's path. Like that asteroid, 2017 GM came in closer than satellites in high Earth orbit.

http://www.space.com/36341-car-size-asteroid-2017-gm-earth-flyby.html

[gwillybj]

Is it just me, or is it getting crowded out there?

[Buster's Uncle]

Are we just getting better at spotting the close calls?