PLEASE NOTE:
*
CCNet SPECIAL 90/2001 - 20 August 2001: UK GOVERNMENT
ANNOUNCEMENT ON NEO
CENTRE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
"The government is setting up the innovative research and
education
centre to better inform the public about the possible effects of
asteroid impacts. Science minister Lord Sainsbury believes that
reassurances will be given that the chances of disaster are
"very remote",
thanks to the new National Asteroid and Comet Information
Centre."
--BBC News Online, 19
August 2001
"Museums and other public information
bodies will be asked today to
submit bids to run the centre. The Government will provide
£250,000 to
cover the cost of the centre during its first three years, after
which it will have to be self-financing."
--David Brown, The Independent, 20
August 2001
"I am delighted by the announcement of the centre. My
concern is
that this will be a wonderful shop window but the shop will be
empty if
the other recommendations are not carried out. At present there
are
more people working in a standard Marks & Spencer store than
detecting asteroids around the world."
--Jonathan Tate,
Spaceguard UK, 20 August 2001
"Dr Peiser said he had reservations about what kind of
information
the planned centre would release to the public. It will include
an
interactive public exhibition to explain how asteroids and comets
are
formed and what might happen if one hit the earth. On its
website, the
British National Space Centre (BNSC) which will commission the
information
centre, says the successful contractor will have to "accept
some
limitations on its freedom to promote views on space
policy". In
particular, it specifies information on near-earth objects,
saying it
should not be in contradiction with the Government's view."
--Julia Holmes, Daily Post, 20 August 2001
"Scientists argue that detecting asteroids early is not just
an
academic exercise. The dinosaurs were powerless to help
themselves, but the
development of rockets and nuclear bombs means that humans might
be
able to destroy or divert asteroids that are heading for
Earth before they strike."
--Eben Black, Chief
Political Correspondent, The Sunday
Times, 19 August 2001
(1) NEAR EARTH OBJECT (NEO) INFORMATION CENTRE
British National Space Centre (BNSC)
(2) RESEARCH CENTRE TO HOME IN ON COMETS AND ASTEROIDS
Press Association, 19 August 2001
(3) "EARTH HAS LITTLE TO FEAR, NEW ASTEROID CENTRE WILL
SAY"
BBC News Online, 19 August 2001
(4) NEW HOPE FOR CITY ASTEROID HUNTERS
Daily Post, 20 August 2001
(5) BRITAIN'S ASTEROID DEFENCE STATION GOES AHEAD
The Sunday Times, 19 August 2001
(6) CENTRE TO INFORM PUBLIC ON RISK OF ASTEROID HITS
The Independent, 20 August 2001
(7) MINISTER PLANS 'ARMAGEDDON' SCIENCE CENTRE
The Sunday Mail, 19 August 2001
(8) METEOROID RIPS THROUGH COLORADO NIGHT SKY
Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasa.gov>
(9) DID ASTEROID HELP DINOSAURS RULE EARTH?
Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasa.gov>
(10) JULY 23 FIREBALL
BBC News Online, 18 August 2001
(11) INCORRECT QUOTE CREDIT IN CCNet 89/2001
Robin Canup <robin@boulder.swri.edu>
(12) DOUBTS AND QUESTIONS REGARDING THE IMPACT THEORY OF LUNAR
ORIGIN
Fred Singer <singer@sepp.org>
(13) INTERNATIONAL PLANETARY PROTECTION (PP) WORKSHOP
Andy Smith <astrosafe@yahoo.com>
(14) TSUNAMI BOOK & COSMOS DVD NOW AVAILABLE
Michael Paine <mpaine@tpgi.com.au>
(15) UNIFORM CATASTROPHISM
Hermann Burchard <burchar@mail.math.okstate.edu>
(16) AND FINALLY: THE OLDEST STORY ON THE PLANET
The Guardian, 18 August 2001
===============
(1) NEAR EARTH OBJECT (NEO) INFORMATION CENTRE
>From the British National Space Centre (BNSC)
http://www.bnsc.gov.uk/index.cfm?nid=11969
The BNSC is pleased to announce the release of a Statement of
Work related
to the setting up of a Near Earth Object (NEO) Information
Centre. We would
expect bids to cover the range of work described but do not
necessarily
expect a single site for all the work envisaged. Some of the
detailed
activities related to the www site may need one of the listed (or
other)
Universities to provide the service currently undertaken by BNSC
and
QinetiQ. The site www.nearearthobjects.co.uk
is written in Cold Fusion and
thus already set up for ease of update.
In the light of the agreed structure of the selected bid the
contract placed
by BNSC will contain text to make clear the relationship between
the Centre
and BNSC both during the time covered by the contract and
afterwards. The
contractor will accept some limitations on its freedom to promote
views on
space policy, and particularly on the hazard presented by NEOs,
in
particular if these should be in direct contradiction of those of
the
Government (sic).
The effectiveness criteria for the planned work will be based on
the final
mix of activities proposed but will involve target figures
related to the
different audiences addressed by the program of information
transfer. For
any www related aspects of the work we would expect a 50 to 100%
increase in
the base access rate from distinct internet addresses and for
exhibit
visitors clear evidence of an understanding of the NEO position
either from
general surveys and questionnaires that may be used by the
institution from
time to time or from the use of related audio visual resources
where
follow-up accesses and Q&A can be logged. For the teaching
packs the
audience would depend on the share of the funding devoted to the
area which
if internet based could be measured by the server statistics for
that region
of the site or if larger mixed media packs for non electronic
distribution
by the number dispatched and evidence of feedback from
participating schools
and colleges (possibly by integrating the pack with an internet
based
activity). During implementation and operation the relevant
statistics will
be monitored and analysed on a three monthly basis. Access to web
server
statistics should be made available to BNSC via password
control.
While the Statement of Work makes a number of suggestions as to
how the
centre could operate we are open to bids that achieve the overall
goal of
information dissemination to a broad audience with the range of
issues that
need to be covered. Achieving the objectives in a
cost-effective manner
will form part of the bid assessment.
Bids should be returned to BNSC by Monday 1 October 2001
=======================
(2) RESEARCH CENTRE TO HOME IN ON COMETS AND ASTEROIDS
>From the Press Association, 19 August 2001
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_377979.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery
The Government is to set up a research and education centre to
inform the
public on the true risk of an asteroid strike on Earth.
Scientists believe that the cosmic bodies may have been
responsible for
wiping out the dinosaurs.
Science minister Lord Sainsbury believes the centre will be able
to reassure
the public that the chances of a real-life disaster are
"very remote".
Museums and other public information bodies will this week be
asked to
submit bids to run the National Asteroid and Comet Information
Centre.
It forms part of the Government's response to recommendations
made last year
by its Near Earth Object Task Force.
The Government wants the centre to provide a fully interactive
exhibition,
website and information packs providing information on the
comparative risk
of asteroid strikes, compared to other hazards, and the potential
for damage
if the Earth was hit.
Lord Sainsbury said: "There are currently no known large
asteroids or comets
whose orbit puts them on collision course with the Earth, but
while the risk
of being hit is very remote, the potential for damage exists.
"I believe it is important that information on asteroids or
comets can be
made available to the public and hope that organisations will be
able to
respond positively to our call for proposals."
Space objects larger than 50 metres in diameter strike the Earth
less than
once every century, with the last known major asteroid impact
occurring in
Siberia in 1908, when thousands of square kilometres of forest
were
flattened.
Copyright 2001, Ananova
===============
(3) "EARTH HAS LITTLE TO FEAR, NEW ASTEROID CENTRE WILL
SAY"
>From the BBC News Online, 19 August 2001
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1498000/1498622.stm
CENTRE TO STUDY ASTEROID THREAT
The Earth has little to fear, new research centre will say
The potential risk of catastrophe from an asteroid striking the
Earth will
be explored at a new interactive science centre.
The government is setting up the innovative research and
education centre to
better inform the public about the possible effects of asteroid
impacts.
Science minister Lord Sainsbury believes that reassurances will
be given
that the chances of disaster are "very remote", thanks
to the new National
Asteroid and Comet Information Centre.
Comets are balls of ice and dust
This week museums and public information bodies will have the
chance to say
why they should run the centre.
Scientists believe that the cosmic bodies may have been
responsible for
wiping out the dinosaurs.
The initiative is part of the government's response to
recommendations made
last year by its Near Earth Object Task Force.
The centre will provide a fully interactive exhibition, website
and
information packs on the comparative risk of asteroid strikes,
compared to
other hazards, and the potential for damage if the Earth was hit.
Collision course
Lord Sainsbury said: "There are currently no known large
asteroids or comets
whose orbit puts them on collision course with the Earth, but
while the risk
of being hit is very remote, the potential for damage exists.
"I believe it is important that information on asteroids or
comets can be
made available to the public and hope that organisations will be
able to
respond positively to our call for proposals."
Space objects larger than 50 metres in diameter strike the Earth
less than
once every century.
The last known major asteroid impact happened in Siberia in 1908,
when
thousands of square kilometres of forest were flattened.
Copyright 2001, BBC
=============
(4) NEW HOPE FOR CITY ASTEROID HUNTERS
>From Daily Post, 20 August 2001
By Julia Holmes
Liverpool astronomers are hopeful plans for a national
information and
research centre on asteroids if the first step towards a £10m
telescope to
protect the Earth being built in the city.
Science Minister Lord Sainsbury will this week invite museums and
astronomical observatories to submit tenders to build the
multi-million
pound centre as part of the Government's response to
recommendations made
last year by the Near Earth Object Task Force.
One of the main recommendations of the task force was to build a
giant
telescope as part of an early warning system to detect asteroids
on a
collision course with earth.
Liverpool John Moores University would be among the front runners
to build
such a telescope through its subsidiary, Telescope Technologies
Ltd.
Spaceguard UK, the group lobbying the Government to commission
JMU to build
the telescope, yesterday welcomed news of the centre.
Spokesman Benny Peiser, who is a researcher at JMU, said although
the
university would not be tendering for the centre, it could pave
the way for
the telescope project receiving the Government go-ahead.
He said: "JMU is not known to be a centre for asteroid
research but
obviously the centre will have strong implications for the future
of the
recommended telescope. The centre is mainly to do with research
on asteroids
and information, not about observing asteroids.
"I think it is a move in the right direction to start with
such a research
centre, but it won't make any sense unless the Government is
prepared to
fund a telescope to search for asteroids."
Dr Peiser said he had reservations about what kind of information
the
planned centre would release to the public. It will include an
interactive
public exhibition to explain how asteroids and comets are formed
and what
might happen if one hit the earth.
On its website, the British National Space Centre (BNSC) which
will
commission the information centre, says the successful contractor
will have
to "accept some limitations on its freedom to promote views
on space
policy". In particular, it specifies information on
near-earth objects,
saying it should not be in contradiction with the Government's
view.
Dr Peiser said the centre appeared to be politically rather than
scientifically motivated and was a threat to academic freedom. Dr
Peiser
said: "It is the first time I have read in connection with
scientific
research that researchers are told they can not say what they
find unless it
conforms with the Government's view.
"We are extremely worried about this kind of censoring of
academic or
scientific research. It is clearly a sign that they only want to
send out
those messages they deem politically correct and that is a
worrying
development."
Lord Sainsbury said yesterday: "There are no known large
asteroids or comets
whose orbit puts them on a collision course with the Earth but
while the
risk of being hit is very remote, the potential for damage
exists.
"I believe it is important that information on asteroids or
comets can be
made available to the public and hope that organisations will be
able to
respond positively to our call for proposals."
Copyright 2001, Daily Post
===============
(5) BRITAIN'S ASTEROID DEFENCE STATION GOES AHEAD
>From The Sunday Times, 19 August 2001
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/
Eben Black, Chief Political Correspondent
MORE than 65m years after a disaster from space probably wiped
out the
dinosaurs, the government is proposing a national research centre
to protect
mankind from the same fate.
Lord Sainsbury, the science minister, will launch a competition
this week
for the contract to build a centre to research and explain the
danger of
human life being snuffed out by a giant asteroid. Museums and
astronomical
observatories will be invited to submit tenders to build
and house the new multi-million-pound centre.
Dinosaurs are thought to have been wiped out after a huge
asteroid hit
Earth, and scientists are concerned that further asteroid strikes
present a
similar risk to humans. Encouraged by the government, which has
set up its
own "near-Earth objects task force", they are already
scanning the skies in an attempt to identify killer rocks that
might be
heading in our direction.
"There are currently no known large asteroids or comets
whose orbit puts
them on a collision course with Earth, but while the risk of
being hit is
very remote, the potential for damage exists," said
Sainsbury. "It is
important that information on asteroids or comets can be made
available to
the public and I hope that organisations will be able to respond
positively
to our proposals."
The proposed centre will include an interactive public exhibition
to explain
how asteroids and comets are formed and what might happen in the
event of
one striking Earth.
Scientists calculate that there are 100m asteroids in space, with
1,413
charted as having the potential to collide with Earth. They say
there could
be many more on the way, which have not yet been discovered by
astronomers.
As well as the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs, it is
believed there are
as many as 200 craters around the world which can be put down to
"impact
events".
The huge Barringer crater in Arizona is thought to have been
created by an
impact 49,000 years ago. There was also an asteroid that struck
the Tunguska
forest in Siberia in 1908, destroying 700m acres of trees and
incinerating
everything for 100 miles.
The asteroid responsible, an estimated 50 yards wide, was of a
type which
scientists expect to hit Earth every 100 years or so - leaving us
possibly
just seven years to prepare for a similar event.
The government's interest in asteroids is not new. Its near-
Earth objects
task force reported last year that action needed to be taken to
improve
Earth's security. Its proposals included fitting all European
space probes
with asteroid detectors, building a giant telescope
dedicated to hunting these objects, and fitting existing
telescopes with
asteroid detection software.
Scientists argue that detecting asteroids early is not just an
academic
exercise. The dinosaurs were powerless to help themselves, but
the
development of rockets and nuclear bombs means that humans might
be able to
destroy or divert asteroids that are heading for Earth before
they
strike.
There have been suggestions that the missile shield proposed by
US President
George W Bush to protect against strikes by "rogue"
states such as North
Korea and Iraq could be adapted to protect against asteroids and
comets.
Sir Patrick Moore, the astronomer and television personality, has
given his
personal backing to such a plan. He has described the chances of
a dangerous
impact as "not high but significant nonetheless".
Jonathan Tate, director of Spaceguard UK, an organisation that
has
campaigned for government action since 1996, welcomed the
initiative.
"It is very important that the public and the media are
better informed
about the risks of asteroid impacts," he said. "You are
750 times more
likely to die from an asteroid impact than you are of winning the
national
lottery jackpot. The public should not be unduly frightened -
this is a
problem we can fix. We already know what to do if we come across
such an
asteroid; we just need the infrastructure to carry it out."
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd.
==============
(6) CENTRE TO INFORM PUBLIC ON RISK OF ASTEROID HITS
>From The Independent, 20 August 2001
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/science/story.jsp?story=89599
By David Brown
20 August 2001
The risk of an asteroid strike wiping out mankind will be
investigated by a
new British research centre, the Government announced today.
Lord Sainsbury of Turville, the Science minister, believes public
concern at
the chances of annihilation have been heightened by recent
Hollywood movies
such as Deep Impact and Armageddon.
He hopes the National Asteroid and Comet Information Centre will
give
accurate information on the risks of an impact. The centre's aim
is to
reassure the public that the chance of a repeat of the Earth
being hit by an
asteroid such as the one believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs
is "very remote".
Museums and other public information bodies will be asked today
to submit
bids to run the centre. The Government will provide £250,000 to
cover the
cost of the centre during its first three years, after which it
will have to
be self-financing.
It must provide exhibitions, a website and data on the
comparative risk of
asteroid strikes, compared with other hazards, and the potential
for damage
if the Earth was hit. Announcement of the proposed centre will be
the
Government's first response to recommendations made last year by
its Near
Earth Object Task Force. Lord Sainsbury said: "There are
currently no known
large asteroids or comets whose orbit puts them on collision
course with the
Earth, but while the risk of being hit is very remote, the
potential for
damage exists.
"I believe it is important that information on asteroids or
comets is made
available to the public and hope that organisations will be able
to respond
positively to our call for proposals."
The task force has made 14 recommendations on action needed to
improve the
Earth's security. Its proposals included fitting all European
space probes
with asteroid detectors, building a giant telescope dedicated to
hunting
these objects, and fitting existing telescopes with the latest
asteroid detection software.
Jonathan Tate, director of Spaceguard UK, said if all the
recommendations
were implemented Britain would be the undisputed leader in the
detection of
near earth objects. "I am delighted by the announcement of
the centre. My
concern is that this will be a wonderful shop window but the shop
will be
empty if the other recommendations are not carried out. At
present there are
more people working in a standard Marks & Spencer store than
detecting
asteroids around the world."
However remote, the dangers of asteroids hitting the Earth are
real. Many
scientists believe an asteroid strike 65 million years ago was
responsible
for a worldwide climate change that led to the extinction of the
dinosaurs.
Space objects larger than 50 metres in diameter strike the Earth
at least
once or twice every century, with the latest recorded major
asteroid impact
occurring in Siberia in 1908, when thousands of square kilometres
of forest
were flattened.
Other big asteroids or fragments of comets struck Brazil in 1930
and eastern
Russia in 1947. An unconfirmed asteroid is believed to have
landed in the
southern Pacific in 1974.
Scientists believe there are 100 million asteroids in space, with
1,400
objects greater than 1km in diameter having the potential to
collide with
Earth.
The Earth is also at risk of being hit by as many as 500,000
objects bigger
than 200 to 500 metres across, the smaller having the capacity to
destroy an
area the size of Ireland while the largest could wipe out an
entire
continent.
Astronomers admit there are likely to be many more objects on
collision
courses that have not yet been discovered.
Copyright 2001, The Independent
===============
(7) MINISTER PLANS 'ARMAGEDDON' SCIENCE CENTRE
>From The Sunday Mail, 19 August 2001
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/shtml/NEWS/P27S3.shtml
Full story at: http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/shtml/NEWS/P27S3.shtml
==========
(8) METEOROID RIPS THROUGH COLORADO NIGHT SKY
>From Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasa.gov>
>From The Denver Channel, 19 August 2001
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/den/news/stories/news-92429920010818-130845.html
Meteoroid Rips Through Colorado Night Sky
Scientists Unsure If Fireball Hit Earth
Gabriel Elizondo, Staff Writer
DENVER -- Researchers at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
worked
overtime Saturday to determine the path of a large fireball that
was seen
ripping through the Denver sky late Friday evening.
Frank Sanders, a research associate at the museum, confirmed to
7News that
the fireball was a "brilliant meteoroid."
The 7News newsroom, as well as the Museum of Nature and Science,
was flooded
with calls from eyewitnesses who claim that they saw the fireball
in the
skies over the area of I-225 and I-25. Sanders said the exact
time the
fireball could be seen over Colorado was 10:44 p.m.
According to Sanders, the object was probably a space rock that
was
traveling around 25,000 mph.
Once the rock crashed through the earth's atmosphere, according
to Sanders,
it became a meteoroid whose surface became extremely hot, thus
causing the
brilliant fire-like light show.
Space rocks entering the atmosphere is fairly common, according
to Sanders.
However, Sanders told 7News that a space rock entering the
atmosphere and
creating a fireball light show only occurs once or twice a year
in Colorado
skies.
"The major significance of fireballs is that they sometimes
lead to the
discovery of a meteorite on the ground," Sanders told 7News.
"We do not yet
know whether this object crashed into earth. If we do find out it
crashed
into earth it would be a significant scientific event."
The museum is asking for your help. If you saw the fire show and
were in the
area of southwest Colorado, near the Monarch Pass-area, you are
asked to
call the museum research scientists at (303) 370-6445.
If you have video of the fireball and would like to share it with
7News,
call the newsroom at 303-832-0162.
For more information about the Denver Museum of Nature and
Science, log on
to their web site.
Copyright 2001 by TheDenverChannel.com.
==========
(9) DID ASTEROID HELP DINOSAURS RULE EARTH?
>From Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasa.gov>
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/08/13/extinction.asteroids.reut/index.html
Did asteroid help dinosaurs rule Earth?
August 13, 2001
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Like homicide detectives searching for a
mass
murderer, scientists are trying to find the culprit behind one of
the
biggest killings in Earth's history.
A mass extinction 200 million years ago wiped out many of the
species on the
planet and helped crown the dinosaurs as the rulers of the world.
Using old-fashioned sleuthing aided by modern techniques,
scientists have
found tantalizing evidence suggesting that the impact of an
asteroid or
comet was the cause of the calamity at the boundary between the
Triassic and
Jurassic periods during the Mesozoic era.
"The Triassic-Jurassic boundary wiped out the competitors to
the dinosaurs.
It's only after the boundary that you get a dinosaur-dominated
ecosystem,"
said Columbia University paleontologist Paul Olsen, a leading
expert on
dinosaurs of this period. "It's really quite a dramatic
change."
Full story here:
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/08/13/extinction.asteroids.reut/index.html
================
(10) JULY 23 FIREBALL
>From David Morrison <david.morrison@arc.nasa.gov>
NEO News (07/03/01) July 23 fireball
Dear Friends and Students of NEOs:
Following are three reports on the daylight bolide seen over the
eastern US
on July 23.
David Morrison
===================================================
NORTHEAST FIREBALL PINPOINTED (from Sky & Telescope, August
3)
It now appears that July 23rd's dazzling daylight fireball
punched through
the atmosphere over central Pennsylvania and may have scattered
meteorites
over the rugged woodlands of Sproul State Forest. Defense
Department
satellites tracked the meteoroid's flare for several seconds
beginning at
6:19:11 Eastern Daylight Time. The path began over Scranton (75.6
deg. W,
41.5 deg. N) and ended 140 kilometers to the west over the town
of
Williamsport (77.3 deg. W, 41.3 deg. N), during which it dropped
in altitude
from 82 to 32 km. Despite occurring in daylight, the meteor was
bright
enough to be spotted by eyewitnesses from Canada to Virginia.
In its final moments the fireball created a deafening sonic boom
that shook
the ground. Meteor expert Peter Brown (Los Alamos National
Laboratory), who
is analyzing the satellite records, told Sky & Telescope,
"I can almost
guarantee that this object broke up." He says that
reconstructing the
object's orbit and flight path are proving difficult because the
entry
velocity is uncertain, though it's probably in the
"asteroidal" range of 17
to 20 km per second. Brown believes that whatever remains of the
incoming
object probably fell in an elongated pattern up to 30 km long.
The meteoroid's size is also still a guess. The satellites'
visible and
infrared sensors recorded 1.3 billion joules of luminous energy,
which
corresponds to a kinetic-energy wallop equivalent to 3,000 tons
of TNT
(one-fifth that of the Hiroshima bomb). Meteoroids in this energy
range
strike Earth roughly 10 times each year. If it was stony, as most
meteorites
are, such an object would have weighed 30 to 90 tons and been the
size of a
car. However, Brown says acoustic and seismic data argue for much
less
kinetic energy and, in turn, a much smaller object. "I'd
hoped to have had
some meteorites recovered by now," Brown concludes, but the
many
uncertainties diminish that possibility. "That's why I'm
here in New Mexico
instead of heading for Pennsylvania."
==================================================
NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
Air Force Technical Applications Center Phone: (321)
494-4404
Public Affairs
Office
Fax: (321) 494-5600
1030 South Hwy A1A
Patrick AFB, Fla. 32925-3002
News Release 002
July 27, 2001
DETECTION OF BOLIDE
On July 23, at 22:19:11 UTC, several DOD satellites recorded the
bright
flashes of a fireball (bolide) occurrence lasting more than three
seconds.
The optical waveform was analyzed, determined to be non-nuclear,
and
consistent with past observed bodies. The location of this
event was
reported to be in the eastern US.
IR sensors aboard US DOD satellites detected the impact of
a bolide over
the Eastern US on 23 July 2001 at 22:19:11 UTC. The object was
traveling
roughly East to West. The object was first detected at an
altitude of
approximately 82km at 41.5 North Latitude, 75.6 West Longitude,
and tracked
down to an altitude of approximately 32 km at 41.3 North, 77.3
West. The
impact was simultaneously detected by space based visible
wavelength sensors
operated by the US Department of Energy. The total radiated
energy was
approximately 1.27 X 10^12 joules.
=============================================
Meteorites Don't Pop Corn
NASA Science News (July 27, 201)
A fireball that dazzled Americans on July 23rd was a piece of a
comet or an
asteroid, scientists say. Contrary to reports, however, it
probably didn't
scorch any cornfields.
July 27, 2001: Every few weeks, somewhere on Earth, a fiery light
streaks
across the sky casting strange shadows and unleashing sonic
booms.
Astronomers call them fireballs or "bolides." They're
unusually bright
meteors caused by small asteroids that disintegrate in our
planet's
atmosphere. Often they explode high in the air like kilotons of
TNT --
blasting tiny meteorites far and wide.
It happens all the time, say experts, but usually no one notices.
We live on
a big planet, after all, and very little of Earth's surface is
inhabited by
people. Most debris from space falls unseen over oceans or
sparsely-populated land areas -- or during times when sky
watchers
simply aren't paying attention.
Last Monday was different, however. On July 23rd hundreds of
thousands of
people were looking when, unexpected, a fireball appeared over
the US east
coast. It was 6:15 p.m. local time. The Sun hadn't set, but
onlookers had no
trouble seeing the fireball in broad daylight. Witnesses from
Canada to
Virginia agreed that the colorful fireball was brighter than a
Full Moon,
and some saw a smoky trail lingering long after it had passed.
"Contrary to some reports this was not a meteor
shower," says Donald
Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near Earth Object program at the Jet
Propulsion
Laboratory. Meteor showers happen when Earth passes through the
debris
trails of comets and countless thousands of cosmic dust specks
burn up in
Earth's atmosphere. At the heart of Monday's fireball, however,
was a
solitary object -- perhaps a small asteroid or a piece of a
comet.
Hundreds of eyewitness reports collected by the American Meteor
Society
establish that the fireball was moving on an east-west trajectory
that
carried it directly over the state of Pennsylvania. "It was
traveling
perhaps 15 km/s (34,000 mph) or faster when it exploded in the
atmosphere
with the force of about 3 kilotons of TNT," says Bill Cooke,
a member of the
Space Environments team at the Marshall Space Flight Center. If
this was a
rocky asteroid, then it probably measured between 1 and 2 meters
across and
weighed 30 or so metric tons.
"Asteroids that size enter Earth's atmosphere every month or
so," says
Yeomans.
"The pressure wave from the airburst shattered some windows
in towns west of
Williamsport," Cooke continued. "Breaking glass
requires an overpressure of
about 5 millibars (0.5 kPa), which means that those homes were
within 100 km
of the explosion."
No one knows if any sizable fragments of the object survived the
blast. But
if they did, the meteorites probably landed in the wooded, hilly
terrain
west of Williamsport -- perhaps in one of the many state parks of
that area.
Says Bob Young of the State Museum of Pennsylvania: "One of
our planetarium
staff was told that the little northern Pennsylvania town of
Trout Run was
destroyed by the meteor! The witness was about 100 miles away
when she heard
the tale from her hairdresser." Other reports credit
the fireball for scorching a cornfield in Lycoming County, PA,
and littering
the countryside with burnt rocks.
In fact, says Yeomans, it's unlikely that any substantial
meteorites reached
the ground. Atmospheric friction would have reduced most of the
fragments to
dust. Even if fragments did survive, he added, they wouldn't burn
cornfields
because --despite their fiery appearance in the
sky-- freshly-fallen meteorites are not hot.
Objects from space that enter Earth's atmosphere are -- like
space itself --
very cold and they remain so even as they blaze a hot-looking
trail toward
the ground. "The outer layers are warmed by atmospheric
friction, and little
bits flake away as they descend," explains Yeomans.
This is called ablation and it's a wonderful way to remove heat.
(Some
commercial heat shields use ablation to keep spacecraft cool when
they
re-enter Earth's atmosphere.)
"Rocky asteroids are poor conductors of heat," Yeomans
continued. "Their
central regions remain cool even as the hot outer layers are
ablated away."
Asteroids move faster than the speed of sound in Earth's
atmosphere. As a
result, the air pressure ahead of a fireball can substantially
exceed the
air pressure behind it. "The difference can be so great that
it actually
crushes the object," says Cooke. "This is probably what
triggered the airburst over Pennsylvania."
Small fragments from such explosions lose much of their kinetic
energy as
they heat the atmosphere via friction. They quickly decelerate
and become
sub-sonic. Dusty debris from airbursts (and ablation) can linger
in the
atmosphere for weeks or months, carried around the globe by
winds. Walnut-to
baseball-sized fragments might hit the ground right away at a
few hundred kilometers per hour.
"Small rocky meteorites found immediately after landing will
not be hot to
the touch," says Yeomans. They will not scorch the ground or
start fires. On
the other hand, notes Cooke, "if we got hit by something
large enough to
leave a crater, the fragments might be very hot indeed." A
stony meteorite larger than 50 meters might be able to punch
through the
atmosphere and do such damage -- but that's far larger than the
object that
flew over Pennsylvania.
No one knows what kind of space debris caused the July 23rd
fireball. It
might have been a small piece of an icy comet, in which case it's
unlikely
that anything larger than dust grains survived. It might also
have been a
rocky asteroid -- the most likely candidate -- or perhaps a
nickel-iron
meteorite. "Iron objects are more likely to survive a
descent to Earth,"
says Yeomans, "but they are rare."
It's possible that fragments will never be found, notes Cooke.
"We still
don't have a precise trajectory for this object," he
explains. "And so much
of the targeted area (in central Pennsylvania) is heavily
forested --
searching for debris will be like looking for a needle in a
haystack."
Or should that be a needle in a cornfield?
"I suppose it's possible that some ablative fragments fell
into that field,"
says Cooke, "but it is strange that only a small area was
affected. I doubt
it's a good candidate impact site."
"I wouldn't start looking there either," agrees
Yeomans. "That scorched
cornfield story sounds a little too corny for me...."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEO News is an informal compilation of news and opinion dealing
with Near
Earth Objects (NEOs) and their impacts. These opinions are
the
responsibility of the individual authors and do not represent the
positions
of NASA, the International Astronomical Union, or any other
organization.
To subscribe (or unsubscribe) contact dmorrison@arc.nasa.gov.
For
additional information, please see the website: http://impact.arc.nasa.gov.
If anyone wishes to copy or redistribute original material from
these notes,
fully or in part, please include this disclaimer.
============================
* LETTERS TO THE MODERATOR *
============================
(11) INCORRECT QUOTE CREDIT IN CCNet 89/2001
>From Robin Canup <robin@boulder.swri.edu>
Hello,
The following quote, listed at the very beginning of your recent
CCNet
circulation is *not* mine; this description was written entirely
by Robert
Roy Britt of space.com, and so the reference needs to be changed.
I would
greatly appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.
Thank you,
Robin Canup
"A dark, lifeless object less than half as massive as
Earth careens
around a newborn Sun. It is one of many planet-sized
bodies hoping
for a long career. But its orbit is shaky. It's future
grim. It is a
character actor on the grand stage of the solar system, a
player of
great ultimate consequence but one destined to never see
its name in
lights. This doomed "protoplanet" travels a path
that crosses the
orbits of similar objects and, ultimately, cannot last.
Eventually,
the nameless protoplanet meets up with a fledgling Earth.
It is not a
head-on collision, but rather a glancing blow. The impact
imparts what
astronomers call angular momentum into the system.
It sets Earth to
spinning on its axis and creates a Moon that would
go round and round
the host planet for billions of years."
--Robin Canup's description of the
Moon-forming impact, Space.com,
16 August 2001
=============
(12) DOUBTS AND QUESTIONS REGARDING THE IMPACT THEORY OF LUNAR
ORIGIN
>From Fred Singer <singer@sepp.org>
Dear Benny
Welcome back. We missed you.
Now to comment on Moon making:
I cannot open the animation and haven't seen the Aug 16 issue of
Nature. But
here are some general remarks:
Problems with the impact theory of lunar origin: The impact
theory was
devised mainly to circumvent what was thought to be a low
probability of
lunar capture. (Yet, strangely, capture appears to be the
preferred
hypothesis for the origin of the outer moons of Jupiter and some
other
planetary satellites.) But impact has similar problems,
which are hardly
ever mentioned, in addition to more fundamental problems with
physical laws,
all of which can be overcome only with various ad hoc
assumptions.
Some of the following questions might be put to the impact
theory:
1. For what range of impact parameters "a" is
there an appreciable chance
of forming the Moon? If a is close to the Earth radius R,
then the impact
is only glancing and the process becomes operationally
indistinguishable
from "capture"; if a<<R, then the probability of
forming a Moon from Earth
material appears low (as evident from arguments of angular
momentum
conservation).
2. Therefore how many Mars-like bodies must impact in order
to have a
reasonable chance to produce the Moon? And why is impact
origin more
probable than capture? Also: If there are so many bodies
available, why
didn't it happen on Venus or Mars?
3. What restraints are there on the original pre-impact
rotation of the
Earth? E.g., could a retrograde impact produce the Moon?
4. What happens to the splashed-out material from the
impact; how much
escapes and how much returns on ballistic orbits? Whence
comes the angular
momentum for a lunar orbit? How and where does
"captured" material assemble
and what exactly is the initial lunar orbit?
5. If assembly proceeds to an equatorial orbit, as one
might expect, how
does one account for the present lunar orbit without any ad hoc
assumptions?
[Goldreich argument]
6. Just what is the dynamics of assembly from a ring in the
presence of
tidal perturbations? Responding to the most massive
agglomeration of
material, the Earth's tidal bulge would drive it outward (and
smaller
agglomerations into inward spiraling orbits) and prevent a
complete
assembly. Has this feature been taken into account?
7. If the initial Moon orbit is retrograde, or within the
synchronous orbit
limit of the spinning Earth, will not the Moon spiral in and not
survive?
8. Similarly, if subsequent to the formation of the Moon,
the Earth's spin
is changed by another large impact that puts the lunar orbit
within the sync
limit or makes it retrograde, what happens then to the
probability of lunar
survival?
Just some questions....I am sure they have considered the Roche
limit
problem and others that I have not mentioned.
Best
Fred
PS For sake of full disclosure: I have been associated with
the capture
theory of lunar origin
S. Fred Singer, President
Science & Environmental Policy Project
http://www.sepp.org <http://www.sepp.org/>
=============
(13) INTERNATIONAL PLANETARY PROTECTION (PP) WORKSHOP
>From Andy Smith <astrosafe@yahoo.com>
Hi Benny and CCNet,
It's just great to see our newsletter back on-line and we hope
you had fun.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has
made
outstanding contributions to our cause, starting early in the
last decade.
They wrote and published two strong and supportive position
papers, which
contributed to the establishment of U.S. Congressional hearings
and the
series of international technical conferences which NASA and
others
organized.
The latest contribution by the AIAA is a series of International
Cooperation
Workshops which were held in Spain, in March. One of the
workshops addressed
NEO detection and mitigation. It can be found at:
http://www.aiaa.org/information/international.html
The meeting was held in March and we found the report on the Web
recently.
The Association is still developing a nice new web site, which
will have
about six languages, eventually. I know the english key is
activated. You
then need to scroll down to Part V and go to Region VII and
finally to the
6th. ISCW report (near the end of the section).
This is a short, strong position report and the list of
contributors is
impressive. I think this may be the start of the international
program
recommended in the U.K. report, which Jay Tate and many others
developed.
The U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs, the Confederation of
European
Aerospace Societies and the International Academy of Astronautics
helped to
sponsor the Workshop. We are proud of the AIAA and hope they will
continue
to provide the leadership, on this important issue, which they
are capable
of providing.
We worked with them, to organize Asteroid/Comet Workshops (ACW),
at both the
International Space Development Conference (ISDC 2001), last
month, and to
prepare for the SPACE 2001 conference, which will be held here in
Albuquerque, later this month (28-30 Aug.).
As you know, NASA, the Air Force, the Congressional Space
Committee and a
few other governmental groups, universities, companies and
professional
societies have supported the work now ongoing, in the U.S. and we
appreciate
the contributions being made by all of these groups. This is the
most
important technical challenge in history and there is no time to
waste.
Large Telescopes Needed
There is now good information on the Web about the 8 meter (900
megapixel)
Dark Matter Telescope. It has been updated and is easy to find,
using the
name. With this one instrument we could find the 100,000 or
so dangerous
NEO in a decade, instead of the projected 300 years or more it
will take, at
the present (and very improved) discovery rate.
We are still contacting the large survey telescopes, around the
World, and
asking them to help. However, they don't seem to give the future
of the
human race a very high priority. We will, of course, keep trying
and we are
also doing everything we can to promote the building of a
dedicated large
asteroid telescope...the lives we may save could very well be our
own.
Dr. Isobe expects to go on-line in October and his equipment
should be a
very good start toward getting dedicated larger equipment
involved in this
vital effort. As you know, most of the dangerous NEO are much
smaller that a
kilometer....mag. 21 and smaller. Large telescopes are the key to
finding
them. Three cheers for our Japanese colleagues and the Spaceguard
Foundation. We wish them the best.
Cheers
Andy Smith
=============
(14) TSUNAMI BOOK & COSMOS DVD NOW AVAILABLE
>From Michael Paine <mpaine@tpgi.com.au>
Dear Benny,
Welcome back. Nice to hear those in the northerm hemisphere have
had a
summer break ;)
(In truth I have just had a delightful holiday in southern Europe
but winter
is not too bad on my return to Sydney).
Ted Bryant's new book Tsunami is now available from Cambridge
University
Press.
http://uk.cambridge.org/earthsciences/catalogue/052177599X/
or http://www.cup.edu.au/result.asp?isbn=052177599X
Ted got good coverage on a local current affairs program
Stateline last
night.
Also Carl Sagan's Cosmos TV series is now available on DVD from
Cosmos
Studios:
http://www.carlsagan.com/revamp/cosmosstore/index.html
13 magnificent one hour shows on 7 DVDs (NTSC format,
international
edition). They are even better than I remember them. In several
episodes
Carl refers to the threat from asteroids and comets. And this was
well
before Chicxulub was discovered.
regards
Michael Paine
============
(15) UNIFORM CATASTROPHISM
>From Hermann Burchard <burchar@mail.math.okstate.edu>
Dear Benny,
let us reconsider the basic uniformitarian premises and we may
find them not
pitted AGAINST, but (surprise!) capable of being wed to
catastrophism.
Disruptive, cataclysmic processes and events have occurred
everywhere and at
all times in our solar system, with catastrophic effects if here
on this
Earth (I can't quite convince myself that the S-L-9 impacts on
Jove's planet
amounted to
"catastrophe"). Not only that, but these events
are seen as the main causes
for the great transitions in the history of life and of man,
reducing other
forces to minor status.
There is evident UNIFORMITY in this, both spatially and
temporally, although
uniform in a somewhat random fashion. Also, we must allow for
evolving
TRENDS, such as the Late Heavy Bombardment. It seems that a
pristine,
mathematical law Newton style or anything like it will remain
unavailable,
although as a practicality, astronomers in their work of
computing
probabilities of asteroid and comet fluxes in near-Earth orbits
have
achieved much. The magnitude of these efforts is considerable, if
you read
for instance Duncan Steele's book, "Rogue
Asteroids..".
Not surprisingly, with the natural law behind catastrophism
though real
being so recondite and even now remaining slightly obscure,
humanity has
been slow to catch on to the fact that uniformly, again and
again, certain
kinds of des-asters have struck our world with life scrambling
back up from
under the rubble with amazing tenacity. (I am reminded of
the rubble pile I
would climb on when as a schoolboy I waited for the tram,
scarcely a house
or even a ruin standing within half a mile, glancing down to see
if there
were any bones, but these man-made
troubles are puny by comparison.)
It appears then that we can make good claims toward establishing
a UNIFORM
CATASTROPHISM. or, if you prefer, more explicitly, a
UNIFORMITARIAN
(NEO-)CATASTROPHISM.
This term refers to a greater time frame but is otherwise similar
in content
to Duncan Steele's term "Coherent Catastrophism" which
he aptly coined for
the giant comet hypothesis of Victor Clube and Bill Napier
according to
which apparently since late Pleistocene times pieces of a
comet related to Encke's have caused catastrophies over
millennia,
centuries,.. years, lingering on as the Taurid meteor stream,
notably during
the Bronze Age and also in late Roman times. In both cases
the genetic
disposition of the universe is seen to force by natural laws
repeated
collisions at random intervals of celestial bodies with Earth.
Besides massive collisions, there is dust causing GLOBAL COOLING.
Also, more
and more accepted are volcanic after-effects, including hotspots
or super
volcanoes. These are part and parcel of the uniform catastrophism
layout of
Earth history. See
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/
for recent (August 2001) articles on this subject,
Michael Paine, Cosmic Collision May Have Created
Hawaii
Robert Roy Britt, Super Volcanoes: Satellites
Eye Deadly Hotspots
The hotspot now at Yellowstone has produced desastrous super
volcano
eruptions at 600 Ka intervals since a cosmic impact in SE Oregon
20 Ma ago
(Harney Basin?), with the hotspot moving only about 30 miles
between
eruptions or about the width of the caldera. The result is
the Snake River
rift valley (a graben 10 km deep according to the USGS) and the
vast traps
and other eruptives in the five-state region. Incipient
rifting along N-S
axes has also created the basin-and-range country especially
prominent in
Nevada, stretching and doubling the surface area.
A similar scenario of on an even grander scale may be taken to
have occurred
(no proof of the contrary seems to exist) at the genesis of
Sibiria after an
end-Permian impact in Western Sibiria at 250 Ma, with the track
of the
supervolcano eruptions forming the continent of Sibiria upon
oceanic crust,
Hawaii today being the simmered down remnant. By closing the
Mongol-Okhotsk
Ocean during the Jurassic, Sibiria was sutured to the Chinese
craton.
Recently, the subducted ocean bottom slab was tentatively
identified under
Lake Baikal by Rob Van der Voo (Ann Arbor) and Wim Spakman,
Harmen Bijwaard
(Utrecht) by means of seismic tomography.
Welcome back from vacation.
Best regards,
Hermann G.W. Burchard
=====================
(16) AND FINALLY: THE OLDEST STORY ON THE PLANET
>From The Guardian, 18 August 2001
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,538713,00.html
There's a new theory about the moon's origins - but could
scientists be
simply making it up?
Special report: space exploration
John O'Farrell
Saturday August 18, 2001
The Guardian
As news stories go, this item has taken slightly longer to reach
the
front pages than most, but the scientific journal Nature has just
published an exclusive that 4bn years ago the Earth was involved
in an
enormous interplanetary collision. The story was immediately
picked up
by all the papers who each put their own particular spin on it.
The
Daily Mail: "Earth in cosmic collision; Blair failed to heed
warnings".
The Sun: "Planets collide to create Earth, moon and Helen
from Big
Brother". The Maidenhead Advertiser: "Interplanetary
crash created solar
system - no one from Maidenhead involved".
The revelation that a proto-planet the size of Mars crashed into
the
Earth, tilting the Earth's polar axis and accelerating our orbit,
has
caused great excitement in the scientific world and given
insurance
companies another excuse to put up their premiums. It turns out
that
before the collision, Earth had a day that was only five hours
long. So
you'd stay up for two days and two nights and then sleep straight
through for a couple of days - it was like being on holiday in
Ibiza.
The collision sent billions of tonnes of molten rock into the
atmosphere
- which, typically, the weather forecasters of the time failed to
spot.
"A lady rang in to say that molten gravel and flaming rocks
will be
raining down for the next million years - don't worry, they won't
be;
though do look out for a little light drizzle over East Anglia
over the
weekend," said Michael Fish's predecessor, as lumps of
molten lava
landed all around him.
Some of the debris from the collision flew up into space and
eventually
coalesced to form the satellite we know as the moon, later joined
by
other satellites sent into orbit by a powerful force known as
Rupert
Murdoch. It was previously believed that the moon was created by
a
white-haired man called God on a Tuesday, but as cosmology has
become
more advanced, this theory has failed to withstand rigorous
scientific
scrutiny. The collision theory is not an entirely new one but now
there
are detailed computations which have apparently proved it.
On page 709 of this week's Nature, the scientists explain how
they made
their calculations. "We use a beta spine kernel," they
say. Oh yeah,
right, a beta spine kernel. Pull the other one. There are then
two full
pages of mathematical calculations and equations involving lots
of Greek
letters and squiggly symbols which they knew the subeditor would
take
one look at and say: "Er yup, that all looks fine!"
Clearly what has happened is that the scientists are making this
all up.
They have obviously spent the last two years sending each other
silly
emails and playing minesweeper and when their deadline suddenly
came
along, they were forced to throw together a scientific theory and
some
calculations so they didn't get into trouble.
"Okay, quick, quick; when shall we say this happened?'
"I dunno - 500 million years ago?"
"No no - bigger numbers are more impressive. Say four and
half billion."
"Okay and say it was really, really hot - that always sounds
good."
"Yeah, and make sure we use the words 'atoms', 'gravity',
'unstable'
and, er, 'beta spine kernel'."
"What's beta spine kernel?"
"Three random words from the dictionary. Don't worry - no
one will
question it."
Making things up about space has been a huge industry ever since
Richard
Nixon decided that the moon landings were a complete waste of
money and
that the same images could be produced far more cheaply in a
Hollywood
back lot. The account of what really happened back in 1969 is
only just
coming out, but it was not much different to any other film set.
"Okay Neil darling, you step off your ladder and say your
line about the
giant leap for mankind... and action!"
"But what's my motivation for going down the ladder? What's
the
back-story here?"
"Cut! Oh no, not this again. Neil, love, you're playing an
astronaut.
You're landing on the moon. It's a big day for your
character."
"Maybe I should drive around the moon in a big car?'"
"No, darling - that's in the sequel: Apollo 12."
"Or lose radio contact and nearly die."
"Apollo 13."
And the guys from Nasa were sulking in the wings saying 'It can't
be
that difficult to do this for real. After all, we've put a man on
the
moon.'
"No we haven't."
"Well, no, but it's not rocket science."
"Yes it is."
Before science accounted for the creation of the Earth and the
moon, it
was explained in the first chapter of the Bible. It didn't sound
very
believable but their get-out clause was that you had to have
faith. Now
religion has been replaced with science and we just have to take
someone
else's word for it instead. The comforting thing is that at least
we no
longer live in fear of flaming thunderbolts coming out of the sky
if we
question the word of the Almighty. Well, not until they've got
the Star
Wars project up and running anyway.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001
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