Near-Earth objects and close calls

another meteor was sighted over the skies of Rome in the evening of 15 March.
A fireball over Rome on March 15th is an interesting coincidence.

In antic Rome, the 15th of March was known as the "Ides of March". This day was marked by several religious observances particularly as the deadline for settling debts (including karmic ones?). Instead of settling their debt, on March 15th, 44 BC, a group of senators assassinated Julius Caesar (simply the greatest man in recorded History, IMHO and the inspiration for the symbolic figure of Jesus Christ, which is still alive in spirit 2000 or so years later).

In July 44, four months after the assassination, Augustus organized the Caesar's Funeral Games during which the brighest comet in history was observed over Rome.

On side note, the PTB might be aware of the symbolism of this date since several of their recent dirty doings happened on March 15th:
2011: Beginning of the Syrian Civil War.
2019: Christchurch mosque shootings.
2019: Beginning of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
 
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This in fact dates from September 2019, see below -


It's best to always double-check such videos as much as possible.
I watched the video and shared the link from the person who posted it on twitter. Do you mean by that double checking the date when it was originally posted or double checking everything to see if it is man made video with some video editing program ? I really did not care too much about date or this meteorite to go and investigate around more about this specific case (but anyway it was nice video to see so I decided to post it here). Really. But okay it is nice to know. But even the guy who posted it on twitter did not say it is from 2021. But again it is nice to know that it is not from 2021, so thank you brother.
 
A newly-discovered asteroid will fly by Earth on April 12, 2021.

Posted by Teo Blašković on April 11, 2021

 
I just saw this 3D asteroid size comparison and thought it was well made:


I have to say, I was surprised that Halley's is as large as it appears here. For some reason, I'd never updated my childhood impression that it was maybe the size of a school bus.
 
A newly-discovered asteroid will fly by Earth on April 13, 2021.

Posted by Teo Blašković on April 13, 2021

 
Two asteroids will fly by Earth on April 15, 2021.

Posted by Teo Blašković on April 15, 2021


Posted by Teo Blašković on April 15, 2021

 
A newly-discovered asteroid made a close approach to Earth on April 19, 2021.

Posted by Teo Blašković on April 19, 2021


A huge asteroid will fly past Earth on April 24, 2021.

By Max Gorbachev - 19.04.2021

 
Bright fireball spotted over Ohio.

Published on Apr 19, 2021 (0:09)

Bright fireball captured streaking in the sky above Rochester, New Hampshire.


April 20, 2021

Dozens report bright fireball in New Hampshire skies
10 hours ago
 
From Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA:

NASA to participate in tabletop exercise simulating asteroid impact


JPL's Center for Near Earth Object Studies will lead the hypothetical impact scenario to see how international agencies respond to an actual impact prediction.

During the week of April 26, members of NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) will participate in a "tabletop exercise" to simulate an asteroid impact scenario. The exercise depicting this fictional event is being led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), allowing NASA's PDCO and other U.S. agencies and space science institutions, along with international space agencies and partners, to use the fictitious scenario to investigate how near-Earth object (NEO) observers, space agency officials, emergency managers, decision makers, and citizens might respond and work together to an actual impact prediction and simulate the evolving information that becomes available in the event an asteroid impact threat is discovered.

The fictitious impact scenario will occur during the 7th IAA Planetary Defense Conference, hosted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), and will evolve over the five days of the conference, starting Monday, April 26. At several points in the conference program, leaders of the exercise will brief participants on the latest status of the fictitious scenario and solicit feedback for next steps based on the simulated data that is "discovered" each day. These type of exercises are specifically identified as part of the National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan developed over a three-year period and published by the White House in June 2018.

"Each time we participate in an exercise of this nature, we learn more about who the key players are in a disaster event, and who needs to know what information, and when," said Lindley Johnson, NASA's Planetary Defense Officer. "These exercises ultimately help the planetary defense community communicate with each other and with our governments to ensure we are all coordinated should a potential impact threat be identified in the future."

So far, NASA has participated in seven impact scenarios - four at previous Planetary Defense Conferences (2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019) and three in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The joint NASA-FEMA exercises included representatives of several other federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense and State.

"Hypothetical asteroid impact exercises provide opportunities for us to think about how we would respond in the event that a sizeable asteroid is found to have a significant chance of impacting our planet," said Dr. Paul Chodas, director of CNEOS. "Details of the scenario - such as the probability of the asteroid impact, where and when the impact might occur - are released to participants in a series of steps over the days of the conference to simulate how a real situation might evolve."

The fictional scenario kicks off on April 26, when astronomers "discover" a potentially hazardous NEO considered a risk to Earth. Details about the imaginary asteroid's threat to our planet will evolve over the days of the conference, and exercise participants will discuss potential preparations for asteroid reconnaissance and deflection missions and planning for mitigation of a potential impact's effects. But it is a real parameter that the international community has decided that a 1 in 100 chance of impact is the threshold to begin response actions.

The Planetary Defense Conference and its exercise serve as precursors to the launch of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which is the first-ever actual demonstration of an asteroid deflection technology, and the first test mission of the agency's Planetary Defense program. DART is scheduled to launch later this year and will impact the asteroid Dimorphos in Fall 2022 to change its orbit in space, which could be a key technique for mitigating a potentially hazardous asteroid that is on a collision path with Earth, should one be discovered in the future. Through an international observation campaign, follow-up observations of Dimorphos using ground-based telescopes will monitor the orbit of Dimorphos and measure the change in time it takes the asteroid to orbit its larger companion, Didymos, due to DART's impact.

"DART will be the first test for planetary defense, and the data returned after it impacts Dimorphos will help scientists better understand one way we might mitigate a potentially hazardous NEO discovered in the future," said Andrea Riley, program executive for DART at NASA Headquarters. "While the asteroid DART impacts poses no threat to Earth, it is in a perfect location for us to perform this test of the technology before it may actually be needed."

Starting April 26, this page will be updated during the week with quick snapshots that capture the results from each step of the exercise. More information on the exercise, including a "fact sheet" of updated findings, will be available on the exercise page on the 2021 PDC Hypothetical Asteroid Impact Scenario page.

Meanwhile as published on SOTT recently: Record number of asteroids observed flying past Earth in 2020 - Despite lockdowns interrupting surveys
 
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