The 365 Days of Astronomy Travelers in the Night Eps. 843 & 844: Possible Impactor & Global Meteor Network
Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org
From April 2025.
Today's 2 topics:
- On 27 December 2024 the Atlas group in Chile discovered an object now known as 2024 YR4 which appeared to have a significant chance of impacting Earth 22 December of 2032. The most recent data indicates the chance that 2024 YR4 impact Earth is about 1 in 25,000. These data indicate our moon has about a 1 in 700 chance to be impacted by this space rock. Even so astronomers are preparing for 2028 when 2024 YR4 will again come within the range of our instruments. Current data indicates 2024 YR4 will miss the Moon by less than 1,000 miles on 2032 December 22 giving astronauts there a Merry Christmas.
- As the Earth travels in its orbit around the Sun it collides with objects called meteoroids traveling through space. These tiny members of the solar system range in size from dust grains to objects a meter in diameter. By becoming part of the GMN's network, your data will help to discover and document meteor showers, aid in identifying the parent cometary objects, and in some cases help to identify locations to search for meteorites.
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