Astronomy

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Car-size asteroid discovered 2 days ago flies 30 times closer to Earth than the moon (www.livescience.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Is that big enough to not burn up in the atmosphere?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This means it's an asteroid with a weight-class that would have burned up in Earth's atmosphere, if its orbit happened to intersect ours more directly.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

So... Asteroid that would have burned up in the atmosphere will miss us instead. I guess that's good news?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Livescience is 90% over-hyped nothing.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

A quick search suggests that something as small as 5 meters can survive hitting the ground, however there are a number of calculations to consider including the speed it is traveling, the entry angle, and the material it is made of.