Unusual space object, possibly man-made, approaches Earth

[Kshasty]

Source: RIA Novosti

An unusual space body with parameters similar to a man-made object will approach Earth on Wednesday at a distance about three times less than the moon's orbit.

The object, named 2010 AL30, will fly by Earth at a distance of at least 128,000 km (about 80,000 miles) at 12:48 GMT. As it is some 10-15 meters long, there is no chance it will directly impact the planet.

According to Italian scientists Ernesto Guido and Giovanni Sostero of the Remanzacco Observatory, it has an orbital period of almost exactly one year and might be a man-made object such as a spent rocket booster.

Alan Harris, senior researcher at the U.S. Space Science Institute said, however, the object had a "perfectly ordinary Earth-crossing orbit."

Read more: http://en.rian.ru/science/20100112/157518728.html

[No Elephants]

1. Stay tuned?

[azurnoir]

2. Man-made object?

hmmm just a bit humanist there?:-)

[L. Coyote]

16. Can't blame the females!

[Turbineguy]

3. Well, the object could not have been

made by intelligent life elsewhere. But then again, maybe they heard Bush is no longer President.

[Frank Cannon]

4. ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE.

Isn't this the year we make contact?

[damntexdem]

36. Aren't they supposed to wait for 2012?

Maybe they got confused because the movie came out this year. ;-)

[Catshrink]

5. Then at a deadly pace, it came from outer space...

Science Fiction - Double Feature
Dr. X will build a creature
See androids fighting Brad and Janet
Ann Francis stars in Forbidden Planet
Oh-oh at the late night, double feature, picture show.

[Richardo]

6. the moon is bombing us back!

:tinfoilhat:

[penndragon69]

7. Don't worry!

It's just an advance recon probe for the coming invasion in 2012.
They have to mark all their parking spaces before the fleet arrives!

[austin78704]

8. I'm gonna laugh

if it's a boomerang.

[lonestarnot]

9. Fucking A.

[katkat]

10. It's always annoyed me that

we litter space with crap. Plus eventually it will take out part of the space station or somesuch.

[MineralMan]

11. They are coming To Serve Man.

[peacetalksforall]

12. It's interesting that the science news comes from Italy, the link is from Russia,

and then an American reports this -

"Alan Harris, senior researcher at the U.S. Space Science Institute said, however, the object had a "perfectly ordinary Earth-crossing orbit."

Leaving me with the thought that if it is U.S. litter, there is no way the news will come from the U.S.

Do we know where all our garbage is?

[sailor65]

13. That's no moon.

It's a space station.

[The Stranger]

19. I have a very strange feeling about this.

[Ignis]

29. Damn, beat me to it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4221369&mesg_id=4221948

[Javaman]

14. Personally, I welcome our new spent rocket booster overlords. nt

[Exultant Democracy]

18. love it

[SpiralHawk]

27. Personally, I welcome Javaman's welcomes of our many Overlords

[Javaman]

33. LOL

Good one!

I want to be earth's ambassador to any and all Overlords. :)

[SnowCritter]

15. Pet Peeve Time!

What the heck does "three times less" mean!? If you (the author) want to say "one-third", just say "one-third".

Yeah, I'm probably too sensitive about it.

[northernlights]

22. you're not overly sensitive;

the so-called writer is overly illiterate and it annoys the daylights out of me, too.

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. He probably phrased it that way because he couldn't figure out if

that distance was 1/3 or 2/3 the orbit of the moon - "Gee, do we measure that from here or from there? It's got 2/3s the way to go, so is that 2/3s the moon's orbit?"

I love it when the scientifically, and mathematically, illiterate write on things beyond their ken.

[Hugin]

26. I'm thankful they didn't say, "300% or 3000% less".

That would really get my goat.

(Believe me, I've seen it done.)

[Baclava]

17. The armada approaches, it's probably just a scout ship

oh noes!

[Canuckistanian]

20. I'm having problems visualizing this orbit

If it's orbital period is "almost exactly one year", then it's orbiting at the same distance from the sun that we are.

Which means that we should never come in contact, it should be moving "parallel" to us, unless it's on some kind of elliptical orbit.

Also, if it's going to pass us at a distance of 128,000km, then our gravity is going to warp it's trajectory. If that's the case, it may end up eventually crashing into us or the sun. It's not a stable orbit any more.

[14thColony]

30. It's in orbit around the Earth, not the sun

and it has an orbital period around us of about one year.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. Anything with an orbital period around the earth of a year

will also effectively be in orbit around the Sun, and the combined effects can be very strange. You get things like horseshoe orbits - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_orbit

Update: It's in orbit around the Sun, not the Earth. NASA has classified it an an Apollo-type asteroid ("Near-Earth asteroid orbits which cross the Earth's orbit similar to that of 1862 Apollo (semi-major axis > 1.0 AU; perihelion < 1.017 AU)."

NASA estimates of orbit, including close approaches to planets

Since it also gets very close to Venus, there has been speculation it was part of a rocket sent there; but as far as I can tell, most are convinced by now it's natural. See eg http://www.scibuff.com/2010/01/12/2010-al30-more-info-including-a-fly-by-animation/ and http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mpml/messages/22758?threaded=1&m=e&var=1&tidx=1

[14thColony]

35. OK, I'm following now.

Article wasn't nearly as clear as that. Thanks.

[Canuckistanian]

38. Interesting

Thanks for the update.

All those different kinds of orbits. Box orbits, Tadpole orbits....

[daleo]

37. The orbit could be more elliptical than earth's

Thus, it could be a year long orbit, but might only cross earth's orbit twice per revolution. It could also be a bit off the plane of the ecliptic.

Yes, it probably won't be too stable, especially after coming close to the earth-moon system (3 body gravitational interaction).

[Canuckistanian]

39. There's a neat Java app showing the orbit at the Nasa page

Click on "Show Orbit Diagram"
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010%20AL30;orb=0;cov=0;log=0;cad=1#cad

[Donnachaidh]

21. they finally found the WMDs!!!!! SERIES!!!!!lll

:rofl:

[MicaelS]

24. Oh noes, the Fithp are coming!!!

Guess we better start building an Orion right the hell now!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footfall

[Cronus Protagonist]

25. "three times less"??

WTF?? Did Sarah Palin write that story?

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. It was a Russian

Whether the Russian was rearing his head over Sarah, I don't know ...

[Ignis]

28. "That's no moon. It's a space station"

:scared:

[Mari333]

34. OH OH

[IndianaGreen]

40. NASA: Object has been identified as Harold Ford's rectal plug

Details at 11!

[Bluebear]

41. Let us be your friends!