[meteorite-list] Small Asteroid 2010 AL30 Will Fly Past TheEarth

From: lebofsky at lpl.arizona.edu <lebofsky_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:57:13 -0700 (MST)
Message-ID: <a6e79bc269072da69a4aa60ea999fc37.squirrel_at_webmail.lpl.arizona.edu>

Hi Sterling:

A meteoroid is an natural object in orbit around the Sun that is smaller
than an asteroid. There has already been a discussion of what constitutes
a small asteroid and what consitutes a large meteoroid. Technically,
cometary dust particles are all meteoroids.

Also, technically, 2010 AL30 is NOT a meteoroid. It has been detected and
given an asteroid designation and is thus an asteroid, not a meteoroid.
Given the number of observations that have been made and the fact that
there may soon be some radar observations, we will never lose this object
and technically, it could even be numbered and named.

There is nothing in te definition of a meteoroid that "requires" it to be
able to survive Earth entry.

Larry

> Hi, Melanie and List,
>
> What defines a "meteoroid" is that some portion of
> it survives entry into the Earth's atmosphere and
> ends up on the surface of the Earth as a "meteorite."
>
> So, we don't know it's a "meteoroid" until after the
> whole adventure is over and done with. We can't say
> a rock is a "meteoroid" while it's still in space because
> we don't know the outcome yet.
>
> On the other hand, any rock that could intersect the
> Earth (or be deflected to do so) is a potential "meteoroid."
> Size is not the criteria. A small asteroid (like the iron
> that made Meteor Crater) is a "meteoroid" because of
> all those Canyon Diablos. Whatever hit Tunguska is
> NOT a "meteoroid" because nobody ever found a piece
> of it.
>
> 2010 AL30 could be a "meteoroid" if it would hit and
> leave a piece to be recovered. Just be very patient and
> live a long time... (Always a good idea anyway.)
>
>
> Sterling K. Webb
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Melanie Matthews" <miss_meteorite at yahoo.ca>
> To: "Ron Baalke" <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>; "Meteorite Mailing List"
> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 8:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Small Asteroid 2010 AL30 Will Fly Past
> TheEarth
>
>
>> Hello everyone - hope you all had a happy new year!
>>
>> Interesting.
>>
>> I have been wondering - what is the size of natural space objects that
>> the draws the line between an asteroid and a meteoroid? Could this be
>> considered a meteoroid?
>>
>> Regards
>> -----------
>> Melanie
>> IMCA: 2975
>> eBay: metmel2775
>> Known on SkyRock Cafe as SpaceCollector09
>>
>> Unclassified meteorites are like a box of chocolates... you never know
>> what you're gonna get!
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Ron Baalke <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
>> To: Meteorite Mailing List <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Sent: Tue, January 12, 2010 4:10:27 PM
>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Small Asteroid 2010 AL30 Will Fly Past The
>> Earth
>>
>>
>> http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news167.html
>>
>> Small Asteroid 2010 AL30 Will Fly Past The Earth
>> Don Yeomans, Paul Chodas, Steve Chesley & Jon Giorgini
>> NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office
>> January 12, 2010
>>
>> [Graphic)
>> Trajectory of Asteroid 2010 AL30 Past Earth on January 12/13, 2010
>>
>> Asteroid 2010 AL30, discovered by the LINEAR survey of MIT's Lincoln
>> Laboratories on Jan. 10, will make a close approach to the Earth's
>> surface to within 76,000 miles on Wednesday January 13 at 12:46 pm
>> Greenwich time (7:46 EST, 4:46 PST). Because its orbital period is
>> nearly identical to the Earth's one year period, some have suggested
>> it
>> may be a manmade rocket stage in orbit about the Sun. However, this
>> object's orbit, reaches the orbit of Venus at its closest point to the
>> Sun and nearly out to the orbit of Mars at its furthest point,
>> crossing
>> the Earth's orbit at a very steep angle, and this actually makes it
>> very
>> unlikely that 2010 AL30 is a rocket stage. Furthermore, our trajectory
>> extrapolations show that this object cannot be associated with any
>> recent launch and it has not made any close approaches to the Earth
>> since well before the Space Age began.
>>
>> It seems more likely that this is a near-Earth asteroid about 10-15
>> meters across, one of approximately 2 million such objects in
>> near-Earth
>> space. One would expect a near-Earth asteroid of this size to pass
>> within the moon's distance about once every week on average.
>>
>> To take advantage of this close approach, there are plans to observe
>> it
>> with the Goldstone planetary radar on Wednesday evening, Jan. 12
>> beginning at 6:20 PST. The radar data could dramatically improve the
>> object's orbit and provide additional information on its size and
>> shape.
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> Visit the Archives at
>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
>> Meteorite-list mailing list
>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> __________________________________________________________________
>> Get the name you've always wanted _at_ymail.com or @rocketmail.com! Go to
>> http://ca.promos.yahoo.com/jacko/
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> Visit the Archives at
>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
>> Meteorite-list mailing list
>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
> ______________________________________________
> Visit the Archives at
> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
Received on Tue 12 Jan 2010 10:57:13 PM PST