“What’s all the hype? What are you talking about? What the hell is a YU55 anyway”, you ask?
2005 YU55, was a potentially hazardous asteroid measuring approximately 1,300 feet in diameter....about the size of an aircraft carrier. It passed 0.85 lunar distances (or 201,700 miles) from the Earth. This is the closest known approach by an asteroid of this size since 1976...yet it's not even close enough to see with the naked eye.... and did you hear much about it?
Now they have mighty fancy equipment that keeps track of this thing...both in the past and looking into the future and they are indicating that more passes near the Earth are predicted and that that they pose no unusual level of danger. In fact, those special machines and equipment used in tracking and computing its future path eliminated any possibility of an impact with the Earth for the next 100 years. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table (a highly automated collision monitoring system) on 22 April 2010 and as such it now has a rating of 0 on the Torino Scale, a method for categorizing the impact hazard associated with near-Earth objects.
The next time a known asteroid this large will come this close to Earth will be in 2028 when 2001 WN5 passes us at 154,000 miles from the Earth.....much closer than last nights 201,700 miles.
But, what if..........What if, in its travels, it hit another asteroid, which slightly changed its course of travel and it wouldn’t have been a near miss, but a direct hit?
According to Jay Melosh, if an asteroid the size of 2005 YU55 (1300 feet across) were to hit land, it would create a crater 4 miles across, 1,700 ft deep and generate an earthquake equivalent to a magnitude seven quake. If an asteroid such as 2004 VD17 were to impact land, it would produce a crater about 6.2 miles wide and an earthquake of magnitude 7.4.
So what’s the big deal? Nothing as long as they miss us, but imagine the damage done if one hits! We would first have the direct damage...earthquake like tremors.....and a Tsunami reaching over seventy feet high, within 60 miles of the crash site.
They sure are closed mouth about things like this.....I sure hope their tracking skills warrant such nonchalance in these matters!
That aside and well past from last evening.....Today we will work around the farm until we have to leave for an appointment later this afternoon. When we return, we’ll again labor on these things around the farm. The first thing will be to get the generator ready for the gas company to pipe it in and test it. I’ll install the battery, change over from natural gas to propane and add the oil to the engine. I will install the ground rods and ground wire. Once that is completed we can call the propane guy in to finish his part. Later I can complete the wiring in the main panel.
We will also be working on the fencing around the pond.....and some of the temporary fencing around the west side by the garden. Below are a few pictures of the generator now and the fence area.... More to come!
043853Cluckin' "A" Critter Farm, LLC
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