1. Near-Earth Asteroid Found By Lowell Observatory ... 8/19/98
2. Astronomers find new class of starlike objects ... 6/11/98
3. Asteroid Warnings Discussed ... 6/6/98
4. Astronomers focus on deep impact of asteroids ... 6/3/98
5. N.E.O. Tracker Information ......... 5/23/98
6. Experts say asteroid danger is real ... 5/23/98
7. Asteroid dust may have helped kill dinosaurs ... 5/8/98
8. Meteor shower stalls traffic in Northern California ... 3/9/98
9. When an Asteroid Strikes ..... 01/08/98
10. U.S. military prepares for space wars .... 12/20/97
11. Asteroid Mathilde may appear to be a solid dark stone hurtling through space ..... 12/19/97
12. Near Earth Object Message from Mitch
13. Earth Changes - TV Tracks Near Earth Objects
14. Hyakutake proves little comets can be bright, too.
15. What size meteorite does it take to wipe out life?

Near-Earth Asteroid Found By Lowell Observatory...8/19/98

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - 8/12/98 A near-Earth asteroid has been found by Lowell Observatory's Near-Earth Object Search (LONEOS). Named 1998 MQ, the two- or three-kilometer in diameter object is not on a crash course with the Earth, but will be monitored to improve its orbit. At present, its distance from the Earth has been measured at approximately 60 million miles and may come within 10 million miles of the Earth (40 times the distance of the moon).

1998 MQ has approximately a 2.4-year orbit that is much more elongated than the Earth's orbit. Its path travels outside of the Earth's orbit to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter."We're excited to see the first near-Earth asteroid discovery after several years of developing LONEOS," said Ted Bowell, astronomer at Lowell Observatory. "There are bound to be many more exciting discoveries in the future." The asteroid was discovered automatically through the system developed by the Lowell Observatory team. Brian Skiff was the observer for the discovery and Bruce Koehn verified the object visually. Follow-up observations were made by amateur and professional observers world wide. Using a 59-centimeter Schmidt telescope, LONEOS has a wide field of view that can image five square degrees of the sky at a time. This enables it to view a portion of the sky that would fit 40 full moons. The instrument used with the Schmidt telescope is a CCD camera that takes timed exposures of the targeted portion of the sky.

LONEOS is ideal for finding objects larger than one kilometer in diameter. Near-Earth objects (NEOs) of this size and larger would be hazardous to civilization if they impacted the Earth. Currently, LONEOS covers one-fourth of the night sky every month. It is anticipated that LONEOS will cover the entire night sky every month by next year. LONEOS is one of three efforts funded by NASA to search for NEOs. NASA's goal is to find 90 percent of NEOs in 10 years.

Astronomers find new class of starlike objects...6/11/98

A new class of stellar objects, gas spheres glowing faintly in the dark of space and slowly cooling, may be the most common bodies in the Milky Way. The new objects are called L dwarfs by astronomers at the California Institute of Technology. Some of the objects have a surface temperature three times lower than the sun, a mass about a third of the sun and a diameter about like Jupiter. (Reuters)

Asteroid Warnings Discussed...6/6/98

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Following March's false alarm about an asteroid coming dangerously close to Earth in the 21st century and two Hollywood summer blockbusters about cosmic collisions, experts met Saturday to plan methods for asteroid warningsthat won't trigger mass panic.
``Collisions with the Earth is a topic that is so prone to sensationalism that we must be extremely careful about how we communicate new discoveries,'' said Richard P. Binzel, a planetary science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ``It took the (March) event to wake us up.'' In light of the heightened awareness, the National Research Council's Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration brought together astronomers who identify and track asteroids, experts in risk management, seismologists with experience in earthquake and volcano warnings and reporters.
The main problem in reporting new asteroid discoveries is that only a fraction that initially seem potentially hazardous turn out to be headed close to Earth once scientists refine orbital calculations. Scientists agree that peer review of initial observations — standard procedure in science — is essential.
In April, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration drafted ``Interim Roles and Responsibilities for Reporting Potentially Hazardous Objects,'' which recommends consultation and coordination among experts before any public announcements. It might take up to 48 hours for experts to consult with each other, Chodas said. NASA wants an additional 24 hours before the information is released. Chodas, who computes orbits for asteroids and comets, went into the meeting with an open mind about giving NASA the extra 24 hours, although he wondered what the agency planned to do during that time.
An earthquake expert urged openness about any potential threat, as long as the uncertainty of initial observations is clearly explained. ``You can't control the flow of news but you can be as truthful as possible up front,'' said Alan Lindh of the U.S. Geological Survey. ``The press, public and public officials seem to deal well with uncertainty, but they don't deal well with the suggestion you might hold out on them.''
Binzel, who opposes mandating a set waiting period, suggested that NASA or the International Astronomical Union establish a code of conduct under which amateur or professional astronomers would seek verification from colleagues before going public. Without that, false alarms will create ``total loss of credibility among the astronomers.''
Scientists have so far identified 123 potentially hazardous asteroids that could pass within 5 million miles of Earth. They've discovered 200 of the estimated 2,000 large asteroids that could pass within 30 million miles of Earth. NASA is spending more money in the next decade to scan space for others. One of the giant rocky chunks is thought to have slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago, wiping out dinosaurs and most species. Scientists know that in 1908, an asteroid exploded over Siberia, flattening nearly 1,000 square miles of forest.
Harry Y. ``Hap'' McSween, the University of Tennessee geologist who chaired the daylong workshop, said it was important that the event was getting U.S. scientists talking, but added that ``this is going to have to be an international discussion.''

Astronomers focus on deep impact of asteroids...6/3/98

LONDON (Reuters) - An asteroid or comet crashing into Planet Earth may only happen in the latest Hollywood blockbuster, but a team of astronomers is taking no chances. Using computer simulations they studied how asteroids with different internal structures would react to powerful impacts in case the disaster film ``Deep Impact,'' which depicts the collision course of a comet, ever became a reality.

Their findings, reported in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday, could be extremely useful if scientists ever had to alter the course of a small planetary body hurtling toward Earth. ``It's a lot more difficult to nudge these asteroids around than we had thought,'' Erik Asphaug, of the University of California in Santa Cruz, said in a statement. ``We're in the midst of an epoch of discovery in which we are just beginning to see what asteroids look like and to understand how they got to be the way they are.''

Scientists believe a nuclear warhead could be one way of breaking up or pushing an asteroid off course, but Asphaug and colleagues at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said more work needs to be done before warheads could be a viable deterrent. heir research showed that the impact on an asteroid depends on how fractured or porous its structure is from previous  collisions.

The porous nature of asteroids, which are ``rubble piles' left over from earlier collisions, weakens the transmission of shock waves which would limit the effects of an impact or explosion to a localized area. ``Once an asteroid has been broken down, it becomes more resistant to subsequent events because the impact-generated shock wave can't propagate across the fractures,'' Asphaug explained.

The astronomers based their simulations on a one-mile wide asteroid, similar to a peanut shaped body near Earth called Castalia. They gave the asteroid three different internal structures -- solid rock, a pair of solid rocks in close contact, and a rubble pile with pore space accounting for 50 percent in volume. They also bombarded each structure with a house-sized rock traveling 3.1 miles per second -- the equivalent in energy to the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.

The impact on the rubble pile was localized but the solid rock structure shattered in many smaller pieces on impact. They concluded that to predict accurately the impact of a nuclear explosion on an asteroid, scientists would need to understand its internal structure. Asphaug said a collision with any of the thousands of asteroids in near-Earth space would be the equivalent of the largest thermonuclear device ever exploded. But the probability of an asteroid or a real-life ``Deep Impact'' are extremely small. ``Asteroids are not an imminent threat, and I am far more concerned about what humans are doing to the planet,'' said Asphaug. ``But in case we ever identify an asteroid or comet on a collision course, it would be best to know our enemy so that we can get it before it gets us.''  REUTERS@

N.E.O. Tracker Information.........5/23

Hi folks,

Finally some scientist are going public with what they know. Earth Changes TV has been aware of this real threat for two years and will continue to remain public with our findings. If you are interested in participating in the tracking of (N.E.O.'s) Near Earth Orbit, click on the link to receive grant money readily available : http://ccf.arc.nasa.gov/sst/news/grant.html

Next week we will have Dr. Paul LaViolette, astrophysicist and author of "Earth Under Fire" to further discuss asteroids and meteors heading our way.

Mitch Battros M.S./c CDS III
Producer - Earth Changes TV
http://www.earthchangesTV.com

Experts say asteroid danger is real...5/23/98

(AP) - A mile-wide asteroid capable of killing millions of people could strike the Earth without warning because threatening objects in space are not being cataloged, an expert says. A mountain-sized space rock "could hit tomorrow and we wouldn't even know it was coming," Clark R. Chapman, an asteroid expert with the Southwest Research Institute, told a congressional subcommittee Thursday. He said a mile-wide asteroid would send so much dust into the atmosphere the sun could be blotted out for a year, destroying food crops, triggering starvation and killing millions directly or indirectly. Such a catastrophe would "threaten the future of modern civilization," he said. Chapman said such an asteroid would gouge a crater bigger than Washington, D.C., and deeper than 20 Washington Monuments piled on top of each other. He said the chances of such an
asteroid striking the Earth next year are one in a few hundred thousand, but this "is more likely to happen than that the next poker hand you are dealt will be a royal flush." The scientist said an asteroid much smaller than a mile wide exploded over Tunguska, Siberia, in 1908 and the shock wave flattened trees across an area larger than New York City.

Asteroid dust may have helped kill dinosaurs...5/8/98

Space dust from broken-up asteroids may have started the dinosaurs down the road to gradual extinction, astronomers said Thursday. The final blow probably came when larger pieces of the asteroids actually collided with the Earth, the researchers at the University of Florida and the Carnegie Institution of Washington said. The good news, according to the report in the journal Science, is that Earth would have about a million years warning before another such asteroid impact. Currently, about 30,000 metric tons of dust from asteroids falls to the Earth every year, but in the past the rate has been as much as 10 million tons a year, researchers said. (Reuters)

Meteor shower stalls traffic in Northern California...3/9/98

Traffic slowed to a halt on Interstate 80 in Northern California on Sunday and police were flooded with worried calls about a possible plane crash as the sky killed with flaming objects.

The bright sky was a result of a 200-mile swath of meteors. "It was the king of all meteor showers," Coast Guard Lt. Alan Tubbs said. The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles said the meteor shower stretched from Sacramento to Monterey. (CNN)

When an Asteroid Strikes 01/08/98

Long Island is washed under Washington, D.C., is devastated.

Should a three-mile-wide asteroid strike the Atlantic, the resulting tsunamis would submerge much of the east coast, destroying cities and killing millions. (ABCNEWS.com)

By Kenneth Chang ABCNEWS.com

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 7 — Imagine at this very moment, a three-mile-wide asteroid is flying into the Earth's atmosphere at some 40,000 miles per hour. A Department of Defense surveillance satellite calmly makes note as it smacks into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The impact splashes out a bowl of water some 90 miles wide and creates radiating rings of tsunami waves, just like the ripples made by a pebble tossed into a pond. The waves, 300 feet high, race at 500 miles per hour toward the East Coast and Europe.

Quickly, news spreads around the world.

Desperately, millions of people try to flee the coasts.

Not enough time.

Three hours later, the tsunamis slow down as they near shore and rise. Disaster comes not as a single wall of water crashing down, but a inland trickle that in half an hour submerges some places half a mile deep in floods rushing at hundreds of miles per hour.

U.S. military prepares for space wars 12/20/97

Folks,

I believe there is more here than meets the eye. Could it be the military is also preparing for natural events, such as "Asteroids or Comets". The below press release is awfully timely to what has been in the news lately.

"Space Shuttle May Be Grounded Due To Ongoing Threat Of Space Debris", "Meteors Being Sited In Six States Over The Last Two Months", "Solar Flares Of A Magnitude Never Seen Before".

Remember Folks, "We Are All Just Kind Of Guessing", However Part Of What "Earth Changes-TV" Is About, Is To Disclose What We Believe To Be Newsworthy Information... keeping you informed. Mitch THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR By Jonathan S. Landay

OFFICERS OF the U.S. Space Command in Los Angeles are developing tactics with an arsenal that George Lucas might envy, such as:

* Orbiting “sentry” craft that protect US satellites from attack by loosing clouds of metal slugs to foil “killer” satellites.

* “Space rods” hurled from orbit that tap the forces of gravity to penetrate buried bunker complexes on Earth.

* Space-borne systems that "alter the weather" in a battle zone on the ground.

Today, these “Starship Troopers” are office-bound theorists. And their weapons are, at best, computer simulations. But in the next century, those simulations could become a reality. How far the United States should go in continuing to militarize space entails political, economic, and moral issues as profound as those raised by the birth of atomic weapons.

Not only would such an effort require a total reordering of constrained defense resources, but it also holds the potential for a new arms race in the cosmos. Even so, some senior commanders say that ensuring American power in coming decades requires the United States to begin aggressively developing the capabilities to control space and prevent potential rivals from using it. They advocate building satellite-killing space probes and laser beams, and orbiting weapons capable of hitting targets anywhere on Earth.

The issue is now being debated in the Pentagon, and is likely to emerge as a key factor in the shaping of US defense policies in the decades ahead.

Asteroid Mathilde may appear to be a solid dark stone hurtling through space MSNBC (12/19/97)

By Alan Boyle

Asteroid Mathilde may appear to be a solid dark stone hurtling through space, but it’s actually a dusty, mushy clump of cosmic debris only slightly more dense than water, astronomers say. They drew such conclusions from a mission that sent a spacecraft within 800 miles of the asteroid.

THE NEW FINDINGS about Mathilde appear in Friday’s issue of Science magazine, along with a description of what it might be like to tread on the 40-mile-wide asteroid.

“Each gentle step raises volumes of dust and sends you floating for minutes,” said Erik Asphaug of the SETI Institute. The asteroid’s gravitational force is so weak that an explorer could jump off into space, never to return.

NASA’s Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous probe sent images and other data about Mathilde back to Earth, 203 million miles away, during a flyby in June. The NEAR spacecraft is on its way toward a 1999 orbital mission at a more substantial asteroid, Eros.

Asteroids are small bodies in orbit around the sun, composed of leftovers from the formation of the solar system. Most of the asteroids circle in a belt between Mars and Jupiter (like Mathilde), about twice Earth’s distance from the sun. Others follow more eccentric orbits that bring them near Earth (like Eros).

There’s wide variation in the composition of asteroids as well as their orbits: NEAR’s Mathilde flyby represented the first relatively close observation of a C-type asteroid, which is carbon-enriched and relatively hard to see.

Scientists used the NEAR images of Mathilde to determine its volume, then matched that with estimates of its mass from tracking data. The conclusion was that Mathilde’s density was near that of water — implying that the asteroid had a porous interior structure.

“This level of porosity would suggest that either Mathilde formed from relatively loosely packed fragments,” the research team wrote, “or evolved into a ‘rubble pile’ of material as a result of repeated impacts from other steroids.”

The NEAR researchers behind the Science studies, led by Donald Yeomans of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Joseph Veverka of Cornell University, noted a wide range of craters on Mathilde but little evidence of large-scale fracturing seen on other asteroids. The scientists speculate that Mathilde’s mushy interior structure may cushion the blow of collisions with other planetary bodies.

The findings from Mathilde and other asteroids may have an impact on future missions to land on such interplanetary wanderers. A company called SpaceDev is developing a plan to send a lander to an asteroid sometime around the turn of the century, perhaps as a prelude to commercial space mining.