2984: Asteroid News

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Asteroid News

Title text: Their calculations show it will 'pass within the distance of the moon' but that it 'will not hit the moon, so what's the point?'

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by an VERY EXCITED EDITOR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

Blondie as a news anchor presents an image where an asteroid is seen zooming past Earth outside of the Moon's orbit.

The comic is about this unnamed asteroid that is predicted to approach Earth in 2063. It could possibly be related to the recently discovered asteroid 2024 MK that made a close approach to Earth on June 29, 2024, but it could be any of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Near Earth Objects Studies' Sentry objects.

Blondie mentions that according to the astronomers the asteroid only has a 'one-in-6000 chance of "doing something cool",' meaning that there is only a small chance that the asteroid will have a direct impact on Earth's surroundings. What the astronomers deem as "something cool" would presumably be that the asteroid hits the Earth or the Moon. She then states that further observations have shown that this will not happen and the asteroid will just be yet another boring dot in the sky.

The joke comes from the contrast of the serious profession of astronomy, which is populated with academics and scientists who traditionally speak in technical jargon, and the contrasing implication that what astronomers truly care about is "doing something cool," and that if an object of study doesn't do cool stuff, it's not worthy of study.

Another part of the joke is that most people are afraid that an asteroid getting close to us would actually hit, and hope to hear that it will not. If this asteroid gets close enough that it will actually be a visible dot, then it is indeed very close to Earth given the normal sizes of near-Earth asteroids. Many people interested in the night sky would find it interesting to be able to see an asteroid with their naked eye.

The title text may refer to another asteroid that gets even closer than the one depicted, because this one should come closer than the Moon according to calculations (presumably by the astronomers). However, this asteroid will not hit the Moon even though it gets this close, so the astronomers ask, what is the point? Again she says that the astronomers hope for some visible effect. The statement that it will not hit the Moon leaves it open if Earth will be hit or not.

Unlike almost all of Randall's other comics, this one involves boredom or ennui. Because something interesting does not occur is often the most important experience in scientific inquiry, confirming the null hypothesis. See also 13: Canyon, 24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey, 52: Secret Worlds, 402: 1,000 Miles North, 731: Desert Island, 877: Beauty, and 895: Teaching Physics.

This is the fourth comic in the last seven about space.

Transcript

[Close-up of Blondie as a newscaster speaking, alongside an image to the left of an asteroid passing by Earth. The path of the asteroid is shown as a dashed line near the top-left, with the Moon orbiting the Earth below it.]

Blondie: Astronomers initially said there was a one-in-6,000 chance that the newly-discovered asteroid might "do something cool" in 2063, but further observations determined it will be "just a boring dot like all the others."

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Discussion

Not sure!! Maybe it is "2016 AJ193" Found this news https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/nasa-detects-the-1000th-near-earth-asteroid-within-colliding-distance-4171781.html , but I can't find a NASA comment or any reputable source. 172.68.23.189 00:10, 12 September 2024 (UTC) WaywardMinstrel

The "DEFINATLY" in the explanation header is intentional, a reference to 2871 TheTrainsKid (talk) 00:52, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

Which asteroid is it? The explanation currently points towards the 2024 MK asteroid, which might be the most likely contender in that it is recently discovered and had the potential to do something interesting, but the 2063 line makes me hesitant to declare that it is a comic about that asteroid. Feel free to revert my changes if you have evidence pointing specifically to the 2024 asteroid or a theory explaining the 2063 reference (could 2024 MK return to earth in 39 years??). I haven't been able to find much information on this yet. Another possibility is that it is about a fictional asteroid, inspired by this year's discovery. Alcatraz ii (talk) 02:55, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

Likely to be one of the recently-removed objects on the Sentry list: https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/removed.html Hard to tell though as Sentry doesn't display impact probabilities for removed objects. You'd need some kind of archive of Sentry from a week ago. 172.71.124.147 05:07, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

Is there a category for comics involving boredom? 172.70.211.100 03:52, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

• 13: Canyon
• 24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey
• 52: Secret Worlds
• 402: 1,000 Miles North
• 731: Desert Island
• 877: Beauty
• 895: Teaching Physics 172.68.22.9 04:05, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

I do not think this is relevant. This is not even about boredom, just mentioning that an event is boring. Also some of those comics mentioned here are not really about boredom, and given that there are several, it is not special in this comic. And I really do not think we need another boring category ;-) Have removed from explanation. --Kynde (talk) 20:45, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

Cmon hit the IOF lil asteroid 172.70.90.64 07:00, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

Not even close. 172.70.206.241 07:08, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

we just gotta believe :) 172.69.79.183 07:30, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

I tots believe in you <3 172.68.22.8 07:33, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

thanks ig 172.70.91.253 07:42, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

Let's make out. 172.71.147.145 07:50, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

Muah! 172.70.207.96 08:22, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

I don't think it's right to attribute the opinions of the comic to Blondie. Everything she says is quotes from the astronomers- even "so what's the point" is in quotation marks. --Mushrooms (talk) 09:35, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

I completely disagree. This is Blondies interpretation of what she is talking about. It is in her line of though that it is exiting and boring. --Kynde (talk) 20:40, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

I think the title text is probably referring to 1291:_Shoot_for_the_Moon. 162.158.42.82 14:58, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

A web search tells me that 2024 ON made a "close passage" (1 million km) on 17th September, and returns to the vicinity of the earth in 2063 (and 2035, 2052, 2072, 2109, 2111, and 2120). It's a relatively big asteroid (100s of meters) for an earth-crosser. I haven't found any reports of initial calculations giving a 2063 impact risk. 172.68.205.134 17:56, 25 September 2024 (UTC)