2984: Asteroid News

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Asteroid News
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?'
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

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a BORED ASTRONOMER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This comic is about an unnamed asteroid predicted to approach earth in 2063, possibly 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 Center for Near Earth Objects Studies' Sentry objects. The comic mentions that 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 visible impact on Earth's surroundings. What the astronomers deems as "something cool" would presumably be the asteroid hitting Earth or the moon. The title text also mentions that the asteroid will also probably not hit the Moon, which is also another way for the asteroid to "do something cool." There is also a discrepancy with the image shown and actual predictions: the asteroid is expected to come within 0.75 lunar distances, inside the orbit of the Moon, while the comic shows the asteroid at least two lunar distances away from Earth.

Unlike almost all of Randall's other comics, this one involves boredom.

Transcript

Ambox notice.png This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.
[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)

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)

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