It's 1.7 miles long. Its surface is covered in a sticky black substance similar to the gunk at the bottom of a barbecue. If it impacted Earth it would probably result in global extinction. Good thing it is just making a flyby.
Asteroid 1998 QE2 will make its closest pass to Earth on May 31 at 1:59 p.m. PDT.
Scientists are not sure where this unusually large space rock, which was discovered 15 years ago, originated from. But the mysterious sooty substance on its surface could indicate it may be the result of a comet that flew too close to the sun, said Amy Mainzer, who tracks near-Earth objects at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. It might also have leaked out of the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, she said.
Latimes
Syria has put its most advanced missiles on standby with orders to hit Tel Aviv if Israel launches another strike on its territory, The Sunday Times reported overnight Sunday.
According to the British newspaper, reconnaissance satellites have been monitoring preparations by the Syrian army to deploy surface-to-surface Tishreen missiles.
An Israeli official told The New York Times that Israel, which has launched three recent attacks on Syria, was considering further strikes and warned President Bashar Assad that his government would face "crippling consequences" if he hit back at Israel.
The Sunday Times said the deployment of the Syrian-made Tishreen missiles, each of which can carry a half-ton payload, marks a significant escalation of tension "in a region in which the United States and Russia appear to be preparing for a Cold War-style stand-off."
Russian S-300 missile (Archive photo: AFP)
Uzi Rubin, Israel's leading missile expert, told the newspaper that the Tishreen missiles are "extremely accurate and can cause serious harm.
"Even if they don't hit Ben-Gurion (Airport) directly, they would halt all commercial flights out of the country," he said.
An Israeli official told The New York Times last week that Israel, which has reportedly launched three attacks on Syria recently and destroyed advanced anti-aircraft and surface-to-surface missiles that were designated for Hezbollah, was considering additional strikes and warned President Assad that his regime would face "crippling consequences" if he hit back at Israel.
In a rare interview on Saturday, Assad told Argentine newspaper Clarin that Israel was supporting the Syrian opposition, which he dubbed terrorists.
"Israel is directly supporting the terrorist groups in two ways, firstly it gives them logistical support and it also tells them what sites to attack and how to attack them. For example, they attacked a radar station that is part of our anti-aircraft defenses, which can detect any plane coming from overseas, especially from Israel," the Syrian president said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Russia is continuing to arm Assad's regime and has sent a dozen or more warships to patrol waters near its naval base in Syria, a move that American and European officials have called aggressive, saying it was designed to warn the West and Israel not to intervene in the country's civil war.
Also on Friday, the New York Times reported that Russia has transferred to Syria advanced anti-ship cruise missiles, which threaten Israeli Navy vessels and the Jewish states gas fields located up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the coast.
According to the report, Russia has previously provided a version of the missiles, called Yakhonts, to Syria. But those delivered recently are outfitted with an advanced radar that makes them more effective.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow's weapons sales would "not in any way alter the balance of forces in this region or give any advantage in the fight against the opposition."
Ynet
North Korea fired a short-range guided missile off its east coast yesterday despite criticism from Seoul and Washington over the launch of three other missiles Saturday.
“Following the launches yesterday, [North Korea] fired a short-range projectile off the east coast toward the northeast of the East Sea this afternoon,” a Southern military official told the Yonhap News Agency.
On Saturday, North Korea fired three short-range missiles, the South’s Ministry of National Defense said.
“The guided missiles are not long- or intermediate-range ones, but short-range projectiles,” Kim Min-seok, South Korea’s Defense Ministry spokesman said at a briefing Saturday. “We will strengthen our surveillance posture against North Korea so that the missile launch wouldn’t lead to a military provocation.”
Kim didn’t elaborate on the exact time or place of the Saturday launches. But sources told Korean reporters that two missiles were fired at between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., and the third at between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Washington denounced North Korea’s launch of three short-range guided missiles Saturday warning that Pyongyang would “achieve nothing by threats or provocations.”
Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement on Saturday, “North Korea will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which only further isolate [it] and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in northeast Asia.
“We continue to urge the North Korean leadership to heed President [Barack] Obama’s call to choose the path of peace and come into compliance with its international obligations,” she said.
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, which is in charge of all inter-Korean business and interactions, said the missile launch was “very deplorable.”
“We think North Korea’s provocative acts, including the launch of the guided missiles, were really deplorable,” Kim Hyung-suk, spokesman of the ministry, said at a briefing yesterday. “We urge [Pyongyang] to show responsible acts toward us and the international community.”
Some of the Saturday’s three missiles were fired by 300 millimeter caliber multiple rocket launchers, a source told the JoongAng Ilbo, which are regarded as the most threatening weapon to the Southern army.
A high-ranking South Korean government official told the JoongAng Ilbo in February that Pyongyang had developed a high-end multiple rocket launcher with an extended range, from 90 kilometers to 170 kilometers (106 miles), and a higher caliber at 240 to 300 millimeters.
With the new launcher, the North Korean military can technically strike some key military spots in the South, including U.S. bases in Seoul and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi, and the South Korean Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps in Gyeryong Military Headquarters in South Chungcheong.
The launcher was reportedly developed with technology from China in the early 2000s. It can carry six to 12 missiles equipped with the Russian satellite navigation system called Glonass.
A government source also told Yonhap that “although we assume the projectiles were probably the KN-02 short-range missiles, we don’t rule out the possibility that they could be fired from 300-caliber rocket launchers.”
“The range of the missiles was more than 100 kilometers,” the source said. “They must be a version of KN-02 or 300 millimeter rockets.”
Earlier this month, Pyongyang reportedly removed two midrange missiles from a launch site on its east coast, raising speculation that the regime was attempting to ease military tension on the Korean Peninsula.
JoongAng Daily
(CNN) — A meteoroid struck the surface of the moon recently, causing an explosion that was visible on Earth without the aid of a telescope, NASA reported Friday. But don’t be alarmed if you didn’t see it; it only lasted about a second.
“It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Bill Cooke, of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.
NASA astronomers have been monitoring the moon for the past eight years, looking for explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. It’s part of a program to find new fields of space debris that could hit Earth. NASA says it sees hundreds of detectable lunar meteoroid impacts a year.
None however can match the size of the explosion they say they saw March 17. NASA says the meteoroid was about 40 kilograms and less than a meter wide, and it hit the moon’s surface at 56,000 mph. It glowed like a 4th magnitude star, NASA says, thanks to an explosion equivalent to 5 tons of TNT.
“It jumped right out at me, it was so bright,” said Ron Suggs of the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Cooke says Earth was pelted by meteoroids at about the same time, but they hit the moon because it has no atmosphere to protect it.
“We’ll be keeping an eye out for signs of a repeat performance next year when the Earth-moon system passes through the same region of space,” Cooke said.
If you’re wondering how there can be an explosion on the moon, without oxygen, NASA has the answer for you. It says the flash of light comes not from any type of combustion — as we typically think of explosions — but rather by the glowing molten rock at the impact site.
Read more: http://pix11.com/2013/05/19/moon-explosion-visible-from-earth/#ixzz2TnBq1gRP
Scientists in Glasgow have discovered a low-cost way to create 3D images.
Their system uses detectors which have a single pixel to sense light instead of the millions of pixels used in the imaging sensors of digital cameras.
The detectors can "see" frequencies beyond visible light, which researchers say could open up new uses for 3D imaging in medicine and geography.
They said the single-pixel detectors cost "a few pounds" compared to current systems, which cost "thousands".
It is hoped that the system's ability to senses wavelengths far beyond the capability of digital cameras and its low cost, could make it a valuable tool for a wide range of industries.
Researchers said possible uses could range from locating oil to helping doctors find tumours.
BBC
