DISCOVER Magazine. Science, Technology and The Future
Current Issue
Subscribe Today »
  • Renew
  • Give a Gift
  • Archives
  • Customer Service
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Newsletter
  • Health & Medicine
  • Mind & Brain
  • Technology
  • Space
  • Human Origins
  • Living World
  • Environment
  • Physics & Math
  • Video
  • Photos
  • Podcast
  • RSS
Bad Astronomy
« WD5 missed Mars? Maybe.
Doctor Who Season 4 premier: March 22? »

The reality of 2007 TU24

Sigh. I keep getting scooped. I’ve been meaning to write about what we learned in the actual real world about the asteroid 2007 TU24 — the one that missed us at the end of January and had no effect on us despite the cries of doom from others — but then Sean Welton of Visual Astronomy went and wrote up a good blog post about it!

So go read what he said. And check out JPL’s stuff too.

Share

February 5th, 2008 1:30 PM by Phil Plait in Astronomy, Cool stuff, NASA, Science | 16 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

16 Responses to “The reality of 2007 TU24”

  1. 1.   Dennis Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    Damn it! It’s looking more and more like I’m going to have to pay off this credit card!

  2. 2.   Mikel Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 2:10 pm

    Went over to tu24.org today. As suspected, they are claiming that, just because we can’t see the effects of the asteroid, they were there! Somebody even mentioned that world-wide earthquakes went from 116 the prior week to something like 160. Well, heck, that’s proof enough for me (wink-wink).

    Then I looked a little further down, and found entries about the moon hoax and others from 9/11 conspiracy theorists.

    Now we know what tu24.org is all about.

    - Mikel

  3. 3.   Cameron Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 2:22 pm

    It did have effects!I have a headache now! It must have been 2007 TU24!

  4. 4.   Daniel Fischer Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 3:26 pm

    Here’s one that the doomsayers – or the media or most everyone else – overlooked: a little one approached Earth to within 130,000 km earlier today. Not a record holder in any sense (at only 10 m diameter) but yet another ‘warning shot’ for the statistics …

  5. 5.   Mooney Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 4:35 pm

    Wow. Just… wow. Happened to look over at TU24 dot org…

    They’ve got a real strong “Magic Anti-Tiger Rock” fallacy going on over there.

    Was there a storm yesterday? Temperature up? Temperature down? Earthquake? Bloody nose? Cough? Must a’ been due to 2007 TU24!

    Yikes.

  6. 6.   MJG Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

    My power went out this morning. Was it the asteroid or the thunderstorm? And what is this about thunderstorms in winter? I’m sure that asteroid has something to do with it!

  7. 7.   Sean Welton Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 6:33 pm

    Ha, sorry to scoop ya on that one! I really do think, though, that we need to be researching some form of protection and not just prediction.

    Sean

  8. 8.   Buzz Parsec Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 6:54 pm

    OMG! I had a toothache last week! It peaked on Wednesday! (The 30th.) Then it went away! And all the swelling went down! And I can’t stop typing exclamation points!!!!!!! Can it get any clearer than this?!?!?!

    P.S. I’m sure the penicillin my dentist gave me had *nothing* to do with it.

  9. 9.   blizno Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 9:06 pm

    I suspect that nua is chuckling about the continuing internet storm she created from deliberate foolish nonsense.

    Of course, nua could be a middle-aged man who can barely reach his keyboard past his giant belly, but who cares? Attention is being paid to “nua” and that might be reward enough for that individual.

  10. 10.   JosephMendiola Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 9:29 pm

    Just read Poster M’s comments to answer your concerns.

    Can also add

    * Up to the time of closest lateral point of approach to Earth, both NASA + JPL’s animated maps and supporting datums/tableaus depicted POSSIBLE IMPACT POINTS AS INCLUDING POINTS WITHIN THE PHYSICAL SPHERES OF EARTH AND MARS.

    * NASA, JPL, and even Netters have yet to even address the tertiary phenomenon independently observed as occuring before andor during the passage of either TU24 or WD5. i.e. OBSERVED FIREBALLS + SPACE EXPLOSIONS/DETONATIONS.

    Yes, its true that TU24 as studied since its discovery did not de facto strike/impact the Earth, but it is also true that TU24′s passage was NOT that of a singular or unified object, nor that of an empirically well-researched object. WE DON’T KNOW THE FULL MONTY/MAGNITUDE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN SPACE vv the TU24 AND WD5 PASSAGE
    EVENT. A WHOLE BUNCH OF UNKNOWN FIREBALLS WENT PAST CLOSE TO EARTH AND NOT ONE BMD OR GMD SATELLITE OR INTERCEPT MISSLE WAS READY IR EVEN IN EXISTENCE TO DEFEND EARTH.

    IMO, despite all the measurements and techy animated maps, etc. the ONLY thing one can claim with CERTAINTY IS THAT HUMANITY IS STILL ALIVE AS OF TODAY’S DATE.

    IMO again, TU24 and WD5 should properly be viewed as “near 9-11′s” where Astronomical-Space Science, Detection, and Earth Awareness-Safety are concerned. BY NASA’s own scope, the US database on NEOS will NOT be complete until Year 2020 or after – IOW, WE’RE NOT SAFE FROM ANY AND ALL NEOS UNTIL 2020 OR AFTER.

    Needs to be better.

  11. 11.   Mike Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 11:40 pm

    @Joseph,

    please up your meds.

  12. 12.   Barton Paul Levenson Says:
    February 6th, 2008 at 7:43 am

    JosephMendiola writes:

    [[OBSERVED FIREBALLS + SPACE EXPLOSIONS/DETONATIONS.

    Yes, its true that TU24 as studied since its discovery did not de facto strike/impact the Earth, but it is also true that TU24’s passage was NOT that of a singular or unified object, nor that of an empirically well-researched object. WE DON’T KNOW THE FULL MONTY/MAGNITUDE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN SPACE vv the TU24 AND WD5 PASSAGE
    EVENT. A WHOLE BUNCH OF UNKNOWN FIREBALLS WENT PAST CLOSE TO EARTH AND NOT ONE BMD OR GMD SATELLITE OR INTERCEPT MISSLE WAS READY IR EVEN IN EXISTENCE TO DEFEND EARTH.
    ]]

    Joseph, the fireballs and space explosions have no objective existence. They were made up. Didn’t happen.

  13. 13.   Trebuchet Says:
    February 6th, 2008 at 10:01 am

    Barton, you shouldn’t be be questioning Joseph’s statements. They have to be right because they use LOTS OF CAPITAL LETTERS!

  14. 14.   Monty Says:
    February 6th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    Don’t forget the classy asterisks and (obnoxious) acronyms! Also, you could switch off of the diet of steroids and meth.

  15. 15.   StevoR Says:
    March 15th, 2008 at 11:12 pm

    Uh ..I dunno about that. Steroids and meths are pretty addictive! ;-)

    (Mind you, they tend to kill one off pretty quickly too. Even other alcoholics – like me – tend to look down on the Metho-drinking set! ;-)

  16. 16.   StevoR Says:
    March 15th, 2008 at 11:14 pm

    Hey! _I_ didn’t write : “your comment is awaiting moderation!” ;-)

Leave a Reply





    • About Bad Astronomy


      Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.


      The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.


      Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com


       
      Keep Libel Laws out of Science
       
       Bad Astronomy was chosen as one of Time.com's Best Blogs of 2009.


    • Science Getaways


      Science Getaways: Vacation with your brain!


    • Subscribe to BA


      Subscribe to Bad Astronomy using RSS! RSS feed button


    • Death from the Skies!


      Order a copy of Death from the Skies! from Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.

      "If things worked the way I wanted them to, any reporter about to do another 'sensational' story on deadly meteors would consult this volume, and bang! common sense would find its way into the news. How strange would that world be?"
      -- Adam Savage, Mythbusters


      "Reading this book is like getting punched in the face by Carl Sagan. Frightening, but oddly exhilarating."
      -- Daniel H. Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising


    • Recent Posts

      • A dying star with the wind in its hair
      • Maiden flight for ESA’s Vega rocket tonight
      • Another interactive way to scale the Universe
      • An ear to the ocean
      • The staring eye of a crescent moon
    • Social/Networking/Cool Stuff


      Google+


       Twitter




       Facebook


    • Post Categories

    • Archives

    • Blogroll

      • Bad Astronomy (old site)
      • Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum
      • BAFacts Archive
      • Commenting Policy
      • Computer Support
      • Contact Information
      • DM: 80 Beats
      • DM: Cosmic Variance
      • DM: Discoblog
      • DM: Gene Expression
      • DM: NERS
      • DM: Science Not Fiction
      • DM: The Intersection
      • DM: The Loom
      • James Randi Educational Foundation
      • My use of the word "denier"
      • Planetary Society Blog
      • Politics and Religion posts
      • Press Kit
      • Q&BA Archive
      • The Antivax Bible
      • Universe Today
    • RSS DISCOVERmagazine.com: Latest Articles on Space

      • A dying star with the wind in its hair | Bad Astronomy
      • Maiden flight for ESA’s Vega rocket tonight | Bad Astronomy
      • Another interactive way to scale the Universe | Bad Astronomy
      • The staring eye of a crescent moon | Bad Astronomy
      • When the Moon hits your apse in a way-cool time lapse | Bad Astronomy
    • RSS DISCOVER Blogs: The Loom

      • A Planet of Viruses: Autographed Book Sale
      • Animal Friendships: My cover story for Time magazine
      • The Future of E-books–podcast of my interview on Wisconsin Public Radio
      • Thursday, February 16: Science and social media panel in New York
      • A Scientific Jonah: My profile of Joy Reidenberg in tomorrow’s New York Times


  • Kalmbach Publishing Co.

    Copyright © 2012, Kalmbach Publishing Co.

    Privacy - Terms - Reader Services - Subscribe Today - Advertise - About Us