WTF is going to Hit the Earth within a month(?)

That’s both a statement and a question.

This site ( Kansas Sports Betting To Launch In September - yournewswire ) claims the real designation is WT1190F. Apparently only its friends call it WTF.
Here’s the Nature article about it:

http://www.nature.com/news/incoming-space-junk-a-scientific-opportunity-1.18642

Hope they have the cameras ready to film because I won’t be seeing it on this side of the world!

Two meters wide & hollow: Must be the capsule containing the infant Superman!

It is NOMAD! It is perfect.

Hope Jeb’s ready for re-entry.

Certainly won’t be the end of the world… Earth is going to implode due to sink holes…

Seriously …

The Nature article includes this bit:

What properties of an orbit in a vacuum would be affected by the density of the object? Its mass is negligible compared to Earth & Moon no matter its configuration and material. AFAIK, whether hollow or solid, feathers or lead, it’ll orbit the exact same path.

So where is this factoid coming from?

http://spaceguardcentre.com/esa-neocc-watching-rare-reentry-wt1190f-comes-back/

“First, the object is likely man made. The motion of this body over about two years can be modelled in detail only if the effects of solar radiation pressure are taken into account.** The intensity of this solar push is proportional to the object’s area-to-mass ratio, which can therefore be estimated, providing an indirect clue to its density. **It turns out that this body has a mean density that is about 10% that of water. This is too low to be a natural space rock, but it is compatible with being a hollow shell, such as the spent upper stage of a rocket.”

V’ger?

Sweet. Thanks.

I’ll go one further, Super Sweet Andy L. That may be a sign I need to get out more, :stuck_out_tongue:

I’ve been interested in “space junk” for a while now. It would be cool if they could somehow figure out what this object is and where it came from before it burns up in the atmosphere.

It may well survive. If it’s hollow, it will slow down in the atmosphere. I bet it’s a stage of an Apollo rocket. Just a cylinder that’s been floating around.

Too small. Remember the only stage to leave Earth orbit was the size of a house.

No problem. I figured it was solar radiation or wind effects they were thinking of, and googled around until I found the info.

Space Geodes!!!

Former Doper The Bad Astronomer has written a column about it.

Update:

Not directly related, but a couple days ago a meteor lighted up the night around here, a nice, big green one.
This was a few weeks after another one burned up over the city during the daytime, and good thing that it did so because it was estimated to weight over 60 tons.

Whoa, so it’s what the over-a-thousand-fucks?