Asteroid 99942 Apophis is a near-Earth object (NEO) that caused a brief period of concern in December 2004 because initial observations indicated a small probability (up to 2.7%) that it would strike the Earth in 2029. Additional observations provided improved predictions that eliminated the possibility of an impact on Earth or the Moon in 2029. However, a possibility remained that during the 2029 close encounter with Earth, Apophis would pass through a gravitational keyhole, a precise region in space no more than about 600 meters across, that would set up a future impact on April 13, 2036. This possibility kept the asteroid at Level 1 on the Torino impact hazard scale until August 2006, when the probability that Apophis will pass through the keyhole was determined to be very small.
Apophis in the News ...
Will Apophis Hit Earth in 2036? NASA Rejects Russian Report Space.com - February 7, 2011
In 2004, NASA scientists announced that there was a chance that Apophis, an asteroid larger than two football fields, could smash into Earth in 2029. A few additional observations and some number-crunching later, astronomers noted that the chance of the planet-killer hitting Earth in 2029 was nearly zilch. Now, reports out of Russia say that scientists there estimate Apophis will collide with Earth on April 13, 2036. These reports conflict on the probability of such a doomsday event, but the question remains: How scared should we be
How did Asteroid 99942 Apophis get its name? You find the metaphors as we segue to Stargate SG 1 ... Pyramids and False Gods
David J. Tholen and Roy A. Tucker, two astronomers who are reportedly fans of Stargate SG-1, named a near-Earth asteroid that they co-discovered in 2004, 99942 Apophis as an allusion to the Stargate villain.
Zoroaster - Asteroid - The Watchers
Ellie on Planet X
Greetings Ellie,
It's been a few years since I met you in person for a reading. I still check out your blog every day. It never ceases to amaze me how your updates are not only in sync not with current news headlines, but seemingly unrelated events that are taking place in my own life.
Anyway, over on io9, another favorite site of mine, I just happened to spot this overview of the latest buzz-worthy web comic Ellie on Planet X. "Ellie on Planet X is an online blog/magazine about sci-fi and science, both related."
Space exploration is adorable in "Ellie on Planet X" "Ellie is an explorer robot sent to a newly discovered planet. She records her findings and beams them back to Mission Control, but it takes eight years for her data to reach Earth. So Ellie is (at least initially) all alone, searching the planet for signs of life."
I figured that you would get a kick out of it. Keep on keepin' on Ellie...
Sincerely,
Dwayne
Thanks Dwayne! This is so cool! I had a really good laugh.
Images from the cartoon:
Ellie finds the Tree
Ellie Shuts off Time
Glad to know I found the Off Button in the cartoon.
... as round and round we go again ...
Nibiru takes us to the research of author Z. Sitchin and the journey of the Sumerian Gods or Anunnaki who allegedly created the human race as a biogenetic experiment. Click on Z. Sitchin if you don't remember the story. Sitchin spoke about a 12th planet (12 around 1) not 10 or X - all metaphors. Never forget that reality is myth, math, and metaphor. The Planet X Hypothesis is all part of end-time metaphoric scenarios.
Beginning in 1995, websites such as ZetaTalk, (is that another Z joke or metaphor?) ... have claimed that Nibiru is "Planet X" - a brown dwarf currently masked within our planetary solar system. By 2012 it will pass close enough to Earth disrupting its magnetics and causing geophysical changes that lead to its destruction. Sitchin disagreed as do I. Still ... there is something that stirs the souls that is tied to the Sumerian God Ancient Alien Hypothesis in our current grid as one more tool of awakening.
According to ZetaTalk, Nibiru will trigger an Earth crust displacement
in April, August or December 2011. That is not happening.
First ever STEREO images of the entire Sun PhysOrg - February 7, 2011
Z 'star'ring as Pharaoh Khufu in ...
Khufu's Folly
An Anomalous SETI Signal
NASA - February 6, 2011Explanation: No one knows for sure what caused this signal. There is a slight possibility that it just might originate from an extraterrestrial intelligence. The bright colors on the blue background indicate that an anomalous signal was received here on Earth by a radio telescope involved in a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). A search for these signals is ongoing by several groups including volunteer members of the SETI League. Time labels the vertical axis of the above plot, and frequency marks the horizontal axis. Although this strong signal was never positively identified, astronomers have identified in it many attributes characteristic of a more mundane and ultimately terrestrial origin. In this case, a leading possibility is that the signal originates from an unusual modulation between a GPS satellite and an unidentified Earth-based source. Many unusual signals from space remain unidentified. No signal has yet been strong enough or run long enough to be unambiguously identified as originating from an extraterrestrial intelligence.
Wow! Signal
The Wow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal detected by Dr. Jerry R. Ehman on August 15, 1977, while working on a SETI project at the Big Ear radio telescope of The Ohio State University. The signal bore expected hallmarks of potential non-terrestrial and non-solar system origin. It lasted for the full 72-second duration that Big Ear observed it, but has not been detected again. Much attention has been focused on it in the media when talking about SETI results. Amazed at how closely the signal matched the expected signature of an interstellar signal in the antenna used, Ehman circled the signal on the computer printout and wrote the comment "Wow!" on its side. This comment became the name of the signal.
