Arecibo a goner?

[docm]

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=25545<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Title: Providing Progress Update on Senior Review Recommendations<br />Date: 9/20/07<br /><br />20 September 2007<br /><br />Dear Colleagues,<br /><br />The success and momentum of research in astronomy has presented us with an exciting, but challenging and expensive, future. In order to make progress towards that future in a time of constrained budget growth, we convened the Senior Review and charged them with examining the balance within our program and recommending places where we could free up funds to invest in new activities.<br /><br />Since the report of the Senior Review committee was released in November 2006, the Astronomy Division (AST), the observatories and their management, and the community have been active in considering the impact of the recommendations, looking at implementation plans, and exploring partnerships that would build on the strengths of our observing system to expand its capabilities beyond the period considered by the Senior Review. In this letter we would like to update you on this progress and tell you about our future plans.<br /><br />As promised, we held a series of town meetings across the country after the release of the report. Starting with the American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Seattle in January 2007 and ending with a meeting in Tucson in April, we held a total of 7 town halls, and together heard from many hundreds of community members both at these meetings and through email and letters. We found widespread support for the process of the Senior Review, appreciation of the quality and thoughtfulness of the committee's report, and understanding and acceptance of its basic recommendations and findings, as difficult as those might be and with recognition of the serious impact they would have on some members of our community. Of cour</p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Oct. 3, 2007<br />By Lauren Gold<br />Cornell University<br /><br />Congressmen Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico and Dana <br />Rohrabacher of California have introduced <br />legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives <br />to ensure continued operation of the Arecibo <br />Observatory in Puerto Rico. They want to <br />guarantee future federal funding for the <br />astronomical and radar-imaging facility.<br /><br />"The bill is an appeal for the NSF [National <br />Science Foundation] and NASA to get together and <br />talk about how they might jointly work to <br />maintain the science program at Arecibo," said <br />Robert Brown, director of Cornell's National <br />Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, which manages <br />the facility for the NSF. Brown, also an adjunct <br />professor of astronomy at Cornell, said: "It <br />doesn't ask for something new; rather, it seeks <br />to maintain what goes on at the moment. The <br />observatory is really an icon to the people of <br />Puerto Rico -- it allows young people see ... <br />that Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans can be <br />successful scientifically on a world stage."<br /><br />The observatory is facing severe federal budget <br />cuts by 2011 as the result of an NSF Senior <br />Review panel recommendation last year. The <br />observatory has reduced its operating budget from <br />$10 million to $8 million since last year, and <br />funding will remain level over the next three <br />years.<br /><br />Fortuño and others in Congress have also written <br />to the NSF seeking reconsideration of the <br />recommended budget cuts. Fortuño noted that the <br />radio astronomy and radar capabilities of the <br />facility are critical to detection and tracking <br />of near-Earth objects (NEOs), including asteroids <br />that could pose a hazard of catastrophic <br />destruction and loss of life.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[silylene old]

<p>Recopying from other threads...</p><p><strong><font size="4" color="#000080">Arecibo was invaluable in understanding the trajectory of the near-earth asteroid BT18, and suprisingly discovering it is a double.</font></strong></p><p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Article about this binary asteroid, primary 600 metres wide, it's moon, 200 metres wide.Andrew Brown.&nbsp; </p><p>http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080713-binary-asteroid-2008-BT18.html</p><p><br />Posted by 3488</DIV></p><p>Thanks Andrew.&nbsp; I also thought it was interesting how the smaller companion was so radar-bright in the attached photo.&nbsp; Perhaps it is smoother?</p><p><em><font color="#800000">Radar observations from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico on July 6 and 7 "clearly show two objects," said Lance Benner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.</font></em></p><p><em><font color="#800000">The objects are estimated to be 1,970 feet (600 meters) and 650 feet (200 meters) in diameter. The larger one rotates upon its axis in 3 hours or less.</font></em></p><p>Also, if we end up closing down Arecibo, we will lose the ability to make discoveries such as this.</p><p>Replying to:</p><div class="Discussion_PostQuote"><font color="#ff0000">Thanks Andrew.&nbsp; I also thought it was interesting how the smaller companion was so radar-bright in the attached photo.&nbsp; Perhaps it is smoother?Also, if we end up closing down Arecibo, we will lose the ability to make discoveries such as this. <br />Posted by silylene</font></div><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font size="2"><strong>You are very welcome silylene.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>I found this very interesting & too noticed how bright the smaller companion was, in fact at these wavelengths, the campanion despite its much smaller size is at least as bright as the much larger primary, if not even more so. </strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Yes that usually points to a smooth surface, so the question is this,</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Why is the 'moon' much smoother than the primary?</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>I agree about the Arecibo comment, it will be a bloody travesty is that closes down due to the lack of a small sum of money. Of course discoveries like this will be far more difficult, if near on impossible without Arecibo.<br /></strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Andrew Brown.&nbsp;</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#ff0000">from MeteorWayne:</font></strong></p><p><font color="#ff0000">Never mind the discoveries, how about protecting our planet? As the article points out, the challenge of deflecting a potential earth impacting asteroid is hard enough (Not that this is the case here, but talking about a so far unknown potential object). Without Arecibo, we might not have found out it was&nbsp;a binary until we got there to attempt to deflect it. What would we do then? Any attempt to deflect the primary could send the "moon" on a direct collision course. If we hadn't considered that possibility in advance, because we didn't know it was a binary until arriving, what would we do then? </font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="#ff0000">Bend over and kiss our.....well you know <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-yell.gif" border="0" alt="Yell" title="Yell" /></font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="#000000">from Silylene:</font></p><p>I completely agree. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>As one small step, I do intend to continue to remind us all of every discovery and contribution that Arecibo makes to mankind.</p><p><font color="#ff0000">from MeteorWayne:</font></p><p><font color="#ff0000">Great idea. SOunds like an article I should write for our local newspapers as well.</font> </p><p><font color="#3366ff">from Mithrades:</font></p><p><font color="#3366ff">Good point about the observatory. "Without this observatory we could get hit by an asteroid before we know it" is certainly a much better pitch than "With this observatory we might finally find an alien signal in the next few decades, maybe. Or maybe not."</font></p><p><font color="#3366ff">It's nice when an asteroid drops by to make the flyby for us instead of having to send out a probe to observe it. Two questions:</font></p><p><font color="#3366ff">-It seems to be flying by right now; what sort of observations will we be able to make?</font></p><p><font color="#3366ff">-If we had known about it a few years in advance how easy would it have been to launch a probe to fly by (I assume with a very early launch and a gradually increasing orbit around Earth) and check it out up close?</font> </p><p><font color="#ff0000">from MeteorWayne:</font></p><p><font color="#ff0000">The advantage of capproaches this close is that radar observations are possible, this led to the discovery of the binary nature of this asteroid. It also vastly reduces the orbital uncertainty making future close approaches more precise.</font> </p><p><font color="#800080">from Calliarcle:</font></p><p><font color="#800080">In addition to Arecibo, Goldstone is also tracking the object with radar.&nbsp; The Deep Space Network dishes can all be used as radar instruments, because they are equipped with transmitters.&nbsp; So if we do indeed lose Arecibo, we will still have radar capability.&nbsp; But it will be much lower resolution.&nbsp; Arecibo's huge dish simply cannot be matched. </font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[silylene old]

<p><font size="4">Apparently the current calculations on 2004MN4 Apophis trajectories&nbsp;don't include enough critical factors to understand the odds at predicting a collision in 2036.&nbsp; Namely, the trajectory calculation have not taken into account the earth's deviation from sphericity, nor have they taken into account the rotational rate of Apophis.</font></p><p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><strong>Also note how important Arecibo is to understanding the risk from this close-approach asteroid.</strong></font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><div id="artHead" class="floatleft"><h2 class="inline">Killer asteroid predictions 'off by millions of miles'</h2><ul class="notlist straptext"><li>15 July 2008 </li><li>From New Scientist Print Edition. <font color="#000000">Subscribe</font> and get 4 free issues. </li><li>David Shiga </li></ul></div><div id="artToolsTop" class="floatright"><div class="artTools">http://space.newscientist.com/article/mg19926643.500 </div></div><div id="artBody"><p>YOU'D think that by now we'd have a firm grip on the trajectory of the solar system's most worrisome chunk of rock. In fact we have only a hazy understanding of how likely the asteroid Apophis is to strike Earth. What's more, budget cuts may shut down the telescope that could clarify the situation.</p><p>Since Apophis was discovered in 2004, asteroid-watchers have known that it has a slim chance of hitting Earth in 2036. At 270 metres wide, it is too small to rival the object that wiped out the dinosaurs, but it could cause devastating tsunamis were it to hit the ocean. Worrying as this is, we have been able to take comfort in the computed probability of impact, which is just 1 in 45,000.</p><p>Now it seems the true risk is unclear, thanks to minute effects that the calculations didn't take into account. "You really can't estimate the probability because it's driven by these unknown physical parameters," says Jon Giorgini of the Near-Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.</p><p>Whether Apophis ends up on a collision course with Earth depends on what happens during a close encounter between Apophis and our planet in 2029. During this swingby, the Earth's gravity could alter the asteroid's path enough to put it on a collision course with us when its orbit brings it back in 2036.</p><div class="artquote">&ldquo;Whether Apophis ends up on a collision course with Earth depends on a close encounter between them in 2029&rdquo;</div><p>One problem, says Giorgini, is that our calculations do not include effects arising from the fact that Earth is not a perfect sphere. This slightly alters its gravitational field and could make a difference to the asteroid's path when it swings close to Earth.</p><p>Yet the most powerful steer could come from the way the sunlit asteroid radiates heat, says Giorgini. Radiation gives rise to a small thrust, and since warmer areas of the asteroid radiate more than cooler ones, there is a net force on the asteroid. This phenomenon - the Yarkovsky effect - means our calculations of Apophis's path could be out by millions of kilometres, according to Giorgini, who will present his results at the Asteroid, Comets, and Meteors conference in Baltimore, Maryland, on 17 July.</p><p>Unfortunately, we can include this effect only if we know how Apophis spins, which has so far been impossible to measure. <strong><font color="#ff0000">There will be a chance to do so with the 305-metre Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico when Apophis comes within a few million kilometres of Earth in 2013.</font></strong> The observations made then may even lengthen the odds of an impact and show that the effects highlighted by Giorgini won't matter.</p><p>Yet the US National Science Foundation is considering cancelling the funding for Arecibo. Ironically, shutting down the telescope might require sending an expensive space mission to orbit the asteroid so it can be tracked. The US House of Representatives has directed NASA to plan such a mission, in a bill now awaiting Senate approval.</p><p>Alan Harris of the Space Science Institute in La Canada, California, says watching Apophis will reveal much about the limitations of our calculations of asteroid motion. He adds that the vast majority of asteroids that could present a risk to Earth have not been seen, and that one of these is much more likely to strike us before 2036.</p></div> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[silylene old]

<p><strong><font size="5">Arecibo facing massive budget cuts!</font></strong></p><p>http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/05/1421219</p><p><font color="#800000">"Many supporters of the SETI@home project have recently received a message informing them of impending budget cuts for the Arecibo Observatory and asking them to show their support for the project by </font><font color="#800000">writing to Congress</font><font color="#800000">. The letter also informs supporters that there are currently two bills (Senate bill 2862 sponsored by Senator Hillary Clinton, and a similar House bill, H.R. 3737), which are intended to secure funding for the project. According to The Planetary Society, the current plan for the Arecibo Observatory involves </font><font color="#800000">cutting funding by more than 60%</font><font color="#800000"> from $10.4 million to just $4 million by 2011."</font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[silylene old]

<p>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2291068/Threat-to-world's-most-powerful-radio-telescope-means-we-may-not-hear-ET.html</p><h1>Threat to world's most powerful radio telescope means we may not hear ET </h1><div class="byline">By Jacqui Goddard in Miami </div><div class="dateline">Last Updated: 1:05PM BST 12/07/2008</div><h2>The future of the world's most powerful radio telescope, featured in the James Bond film <em>Goldeneye</em>, is under threat from US budget government cuts. </h2><div class="twothirds"><p>From its perch on a Puerto Rican mountain top, the Arecibo Observatory has long been man's keenest ear on space, scanning the skies for extra-terrestial broadcasts and keeping the planet safe from potential asteroid strikes.</p><p>So sensitive is its powerful radio telescope that it is said to be able to detect signals in deep space one billion times fainter than the sound of a kiss across an empty football stadium. </p><p>But the future of the observatory - which featured in Goldeneye, an episode of the alien-hunting series <em>X-Files</em>, and the Jodie Foster film Contact - is now in the balance.</p><div class="mpu"><div class="cont">Article continues</div><div class="adtxt">advertisement</div><div id="mpu"><div style="display:none;width:0px;height:0px"></div></div><a name="continue"></a></div><p>Scientists warn that the plan to more than halve the observatory's $10.4 million annual budget by 2011 will force an end to Arecibo's research, crippling its astronomers' ability to track objects that may be on a collision course with Earth and ending their work on SETI - the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.</p><p>"Mankind has been wondering about its relationship to the universe and the uniqueness of life throughout the centuries," said Dr Louis Friedman, executive director of The Planetary Society, an influential space advocacy organisation that is campaigning to save Arecibo.</p><p>"To use Earth's best telescope to enquire whether there's someone out there sending us signals is a valuable thing to do."</p><p>Ending Arecibo's role in SETI - which involves the telescope scanning the stars for microwave signals beamed by other beings in unknown worlds - would mean that if ET really did try to 'phone home one day, mankind would miss it. "Nobody will answer," said Dr Friedman.</p><p>No other radio telescope in the world - including those run from Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, which last week was spared the axe following a funding crisis of its own - comes close to Arecibo's extraordinary power.</p><p>Composed of 40,000 aluminium panels, its receiving dish covers an area equivalent to 26 football pitches. As well as its celestial eavesdropping duties, it can detect the tiniest of so-called Near Earth Objects, such as marauding space rocks, and plot their trajectory 400 years into the future.</p><p>Scientists say that the ability to predict the movements of such objects could one day save the world from disasters such as the Tunguska event in 1908, when a comet or asteroid hit Siberia and flattened trees across 800 square miles. Advance warning would potentially give organisations such as Nasa a chance to mount a mission to deflect the threat.</p><p>"Without Arecibo, Earth is in danger," Dr Friedman warned. "We live in a busy solar system. Finding and tracking all the Near Earth Objects that might intersect Earth's orbit beats yelling, 'Duck!' when the next impactor comes our way." </p><br /></div> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[silylene old]

<p>http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/advocacy_and_education/space_advocacy/20080703.html</p><h2 class="sIFR-replaced"><span class="sIFR-alternate">Budget Cuts Threaten Arecibo Observatory; The Planetary Society Continues the Fight on Capitol Hill</span></h2><p><strong>By Amir Alexander<br />July 3, 2008</strong> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" class="imgright" style="width:272px"><tbody><tr><td><div class="center">Send this story to a friend - Slashdot -<br />Digg this - Reddit - Del.icio.us - Newsvine - NowPublic</div><div class="img"><img class="img" src="http://www.planetary.org/image/arecibo_observatory_474x600_med.jpg" border="0" alt="Arecibo Observatory" width="256" height="324" /></div><div class="imgtxt"><div class="small">Click to enlarge ></div><strong>Arecibo Observatory</strong><br />Credit: NAIC - Arecibo Observatory, a facility of the NSF </div>

 

[silylene old]

<p>Here is a list of the science expectations of the newly upgraded radar at Arecibo: http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/arecibo_ops.html</p><p>Note particularly that with the new upgrade that Arecibo will now be able to find ca. 160 NEO's per year, identify up to 100 binary asteroids/year, and map the craters on about 30 asteroids/year.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[silylene old]

<p>Some more recent fundamental research from the Arecibo radar: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/cuc-atf011408.php</p><p><strong>Public release date: 14-Jan-2008<br /></strong>[ <font color="#666666">Print Article</font> | <font color="#666666">E-mail Article</font> | <font color="#666666">Close Window</font> ]<br /><br />Contact: Blaine Friedlander<br /><font color="#2c56ac">bpf2@cornell.edu</font><br />607-254-8093<br /><span class="relinst"><font color="#2c56ac">Cornell University Communications</font></span> </p><h1 class="title">Arecibo telescope finds critical ingredients for the soup of life in a galaxy far, far away</h1><p>AUSTIN, Texas &mdash; Astronomers from Arecibo Observatory radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, have detected for the first time the molecules methanimine and hydrogen cyanide &ndash; two ingredients that build life-forming amino acids &ndash; in a galaxy some 250 million light years away. </p><p>&ldquo;Just add water!&rdquo; said Robert Minchin, an Arecibo astronomer on the project, who explained that methanimine and hydrogen cyanide are two of the basic ingredients of life, because when combined with water they form glycine, the simplest amino acid, a building block of life on Earth. </p><p>The astronomy team, led by Arecibo astronomer Christopher Salter, announced this discovery today (Jan. 11) in a poster presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin. The Arecibo Observatory is managed by Cornell University for National Science Foundation. </p><p>The Arecibo astronomers focused on the distant galaxy Arp 220, an ultra-luminous starburst galaxy, because it forms new stars at a very high rate. They used the 305-meter, or 1,000-foot diameter, Arecibo radio telescope, the world&rsquo;s largest and most sensitive, to observe the galaxy at different frequencies. In fact, for the first time in April 2007, they used the 800 megahertz wide-band mode of the main spectrometer to make these detections. </p><p>These molecules were found by searching for radio emission at specific frequencies. Each chemical substance has its own unique radio frequency and astronomers can in that way identify the different substances, much like people can be identified with their unique fingerprints. </p><p>&ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t targeting any particular molecule, so we didn&rsquo;t know what we were going to find &ndash; we just started searching, and what we found was incredibly exciting,&rdquo; said Tapasi Ghosh, an Arecibo astronomer. </p><p>&ldquo;The fact that we can observe these substances at such a vast distance means that there are huge amounts of them in Arp 220,&rdquo; said Emmanuel Momjian, a former Arecibo astronomer, now at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, N.M. &ldquo;It is indeed very intriguing to find that the ingredients of life appear in large quantities where new stars and planets are born.&rdquo; </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[DrRocket]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>... Radiation gives rise to a small thrust, and since warmer areas of the asteroid radiate more than cooler ones, there is a net force on the asteroid. This phenomenon - the Yarkovsky effect - means our calculations of Apophis's path could be out by millions of kilometres, according to Giorgini, who will present his results at the Asteroid, Comets, and Meteors conference in Baltimore, Maryland, on 17 July.Unfortunately, we can include this effect only if we know how Apophis spins, which has so far been impossible to measure. ...Posted by silylene</DIV></p><p>If Giorgini is seriously proposing that the Yarkovsky effect could create such a large orbit change in such a short period of time it would be quite interesting to see the calculations that back up that notion.&nbsp; Does anyone have a link to his paper ?<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[silylene old]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>If Giorgini is seriously proposing that the Yarkovsky effect could create such a large orbit change in such a short period of time it would be quite interesting to see the calculations that back up that notion.&nbsp; Does anyone have a link to his paper ? <br />Posted by DrRocket</DIV></p><p>It says "Giorgini, who will present his results at the Asteroid, Comets, and Meteors conference in Baltimore, Maryland, on 17 July".&nbsp; Hopefully it will be released tomorrow.<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[Carrickagh]

<p>Giorgini was one of several authors on the paper entitled Asteroid 1950 DA's encounter with Earth in 2880. <em>Science</em> <strong>296</strong>, pp. 132&ndash;135.</p><p>Here is a link to the sciencemag site with a reprint:</p><p>http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/296/5565/132.pdf?ijkey=l3UqQyiMxYRmM&keytype=ref&siteid=sci</p><p>JPL also has selections of his work at:</p><p>http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/1950da/1950da.pdf</p><p>Interesting reading. The nuts and bolts of this process are described here:</p><p>http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WGF-4C6KRN1-1&_user=483663&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000022660&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=483663&md5=c44b9a74b9c8a22bc9cd79261ed12050#bib010</p><p>Although they are older papers, they might give a taste to what he will discuss Friday.</p><p>Dia Duit!</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[DrRocket]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Giorgini was one of several authors on the paper entitled Asteroid 1950 DA's encounter with Earth in 2880. Science 296, pp. 132&ndash;135.Here is a link to the sciencemag site with a reprint:http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/296/5565/132.pdf?ijkey=l3UqQyiMxYRmM&keytype=ref&siteid=sciJPL also has selections of his work at:http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/1950da/1950da.pdfInteresting reading. The nuts and bolts of this process are described here:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WGF-4C6KRN1-1&_user=483663&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000022660&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=483663&md5=c44b9a74b9c8a22bc9cd79261ed12050#bib010Although they are older papers, they might give a taste to what he will discuss Friday.Dia Duit! <br />Posted by Carrickagh</DIV></p><p>This seems to be the paper, or at least a fairly detailed abstract.</p><p>http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/acm2008/pdf/8285.pdf<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>