XPost: alt.space, alt.survival, alt.politics
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/zwicky-transient-facility-nabs-an-interstellar-visitor
A comet is hurtling into our solar system from interstellar
space at about 152,000 miles per hour. The comet, named 3I/ATLAS,
was discovered by the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-
impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado,
Chile, on July 1. When the object was first spotted, it was
assumed to be one of the many usual denizens of our solar
system. But just a few hours later, astronomers realized
that the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded
Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) had previously observed
the body on June 28 and 29. Those "pre-discovery" observations
refined the comet's orbit, sparking excitement throughout
the astronomical community.
. . .
The comet is at least 12 kilometers in diameter.
It appears to have been flung out from some other
distant solar system LONG ago.
I have seen two path projection diagrams ... one
has it passing slightly inside the orbit of Mars,
the other slightly outside the orbit of Mars.
It will be most proximate during fall months.
If something this size hit Earth ... very VERY bad.
However there still IS a danger ... it will be passing
kind of near/in our asteroid belt, twice. The gravitational
influence, or perhaps even a collision, could send junk
down OUR way.
The best effect would be if it hit Mars. That much
ice and frozen gasses would somewhat re-charge the
atmosphere - better for future colonists. Alas it
seems Mars won't be in the right position to
be struck.
The bigger lesson though, backed by recent observations,
is that such 'galactic junk' may not be as rare as we
once believed. The next giant comet, or ROCK, could
come from VERY far away and aimed right at Earth.
Musk and others ARE right - the more we know of what
is going on in the galaxy, the smarter it is to
somewhat split the population between at least TWO
planets, just in case. Mars does not seem suitable
for large-scale colonization for a variety of reasons
but we COULD perhaps manage five or ten thousand
people there - enough diversity to rebuild the race
and re-colonize a blasted Earth.
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