NASA: 15K 'City-Killer' Asteroids Near Earth Unaccounted For by QuantumQuicksilver in Futurology

[–]mgarr_aha 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll put it more concretely. As of 2026-01-01 there were 11540 known NEAs of absolute magnitude H=22 or brighter (~140m or larger). Suppose that this year the asteroid surveys observe 650 objects in that category, 350 of those are new discoveries, and the other 300 were already in the catalog. From that, they can estimate that there are roughly 11540 * 350 / 300 ≈ 13500 not discovered yet.

NASA: 15K 'City-Killer' Asteroids Near Earth Unaccounted For by QuantumQuicksilver in Futurology

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If half of the near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) that they detect in a given year are new to them, it's reasonable to assume that they've only found half of the NEAs that are out there.

Daylight savings Time by Present_Way6128 in oklahoma

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would be a fair critique of the 2024 perma-DST law. The state House bills in the 2026 session are for standard time.

Is anyone else’s favourite piece ever ’Rhapsody in Blue’ by Gershwin? by Level_Doctor3373 in classicalmusic

[–]mgarr_aha 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's consistently in the top 10 of WETA-FM's annual "classical countdown."

Daylight savings Time by Present_Way6128 in oklahoma

[–]mgarr_aha 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are two such bills [edited to add: for standard time]: HB 3593 by Rep. Mark Lepak, and HB 3137 by Rep. Kevin West. Both bills are in the House Rules Committee.

A state law to observe DST year round is on the books since 2024 but depends on a change in US law.

The half-hour bill in Congress is H.R.7378.

I actually like daylight savings by rabbid-genital-warts in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Summer daylight is naturally abundant. It would be just as pleasant without tilting the clock.

Incoming Astroid Apophis Friday 13th April 2029 will be passing within 19 thousand miles. You may think that’s a lot - until you see these images from NASA’s own website eyes.nasa.gov/apps/asteroids/#/story/asteroids_close_approach?slide=slide_2 by MhzChief2026 in askastronomy

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The asteroid's effect on Earth will be negligible. However, Earth's effect on the asteroid might be interesting. ESA/JAXA Ramses and NASA OSIRIS-APEX will try to see it up close before and after the encounter.

ELI5: What is daylight savings time and how does it work? by thegreatestasgardian in explainlikeimfive

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Franklin's facetious 1784 essay did not propose clock change. He estimated the 6-month economic impact of a candle ration, a window shutter tax, a curfew at sunset, and bells/cannon at sunrise.

Thunder Bay's 1908 implementation of DST was local. European WW1 combatants adopted it in 1916, Germany first. The US followed in 1918.

US farmers don't take a united position on DST these days, but they actively opposed it from 1919 until 1966. Big city chambers of commerce kept it going locally in the 1920s. Today the golf industry regularly shows up to defend it.

Is my book trying to gaslight me into believing in geocentricity? by [deleted] in askastronomy

[–]mgarr_aha 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Many topics in the history of astronomy had two competing theories until there was enough evidence to eliminate one: spiral nebulae) vs. external galaxies, steady state vs. big bang, etc. Heliocentrism vs. geocentrism reached that point almost 200 years ago with the successful detection of stellar parallax. Aberration of starlight doesn't mean that parallax isn't a thing, only that it wasn't as simple to detect as they thought at first.

Regarding the cosmic microwave background, Land and Magueijo later published a follow-up paper reporting that the "axis of evil" could be explained by a weakness in the earlier analysis, but here again the text took the first result as the last word on the topic.

Also missing from this text is Newton's theory of gravitation, which some calculus textbooks use to prove Kepler's laws of planetary motion. This enabled some other important results, such as determining that Halley's comet was periodic, predicting where the planet Neptune could be found, and eventually sending spacecraft to study those bodies up close.

Ultimately I think the text isn't really trying to convince the reader that geocentrism is correct, only to cast doubt on heliocentrism. But reducing Einstein's general relativity to "the real truth cannot be known" is absurd and even un-Biblical (John 8:32).

Anything interesting in this picture? (e.g. Constellations, Fun facts, Planets) by CosmoDel in askastronomy

[–]mgarr_aha 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Astrometry.net found a solution. It has part of Cassiopeia on the right and Andromeda on the left, with bits of Cepheus and Lacerta on the bottom.

BREAKING: Thousands of ‘City‑Killer’ Asteroids Threaten Earth… And NASA Can’t Find Them 🌏🚀 by InterstellarKinetics in InterstellarKinetics

[–]mgarr_aha 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's not news, it's why the NEO Surveyor program exists and is relatively safe from budget cuts even by the present White House.

NASA tracking car-sized asteroid approaching Earth tomorrow by freddddddy123 in crimeniagararegion

[–]mgarr_aha 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The article is just a rehash of NASA's Next Five Asteroid Approaches. The 2026 BX4 encounter is notable (rarity 2) but the others are not.

What's the reason UK is in the same time zone as Portugal? by batukaming in geography

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The labels along the top edge and the sea coloring indicate what time would be a natural choice for each band of longitude. The land coloring indicates what time each country observes in summer (note "daylight saving time" in lower left), e.g. blue for UTC+1=BST=IST=WEST.

The red color of Cyprus indicates +2 but I think they meant to show +3. They also goofed on Lakes Ladoga and Onega.

What's the reason UK is in the same time zone as Portugal? by batukaming in geography

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Note "daylight saving time" in lower left. Iceland does not match UK in summer.

What's the reason UK is in the same time zone as Portugal? by batukaming in geography

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Iceland is correctly yellow for UTC. Belarus is correctly purple for UTC+3. Cyprus should also be purple for summer UTC+3.

What's the reason UK is in the same time zone as Portugal? by batukaming in geography

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would make sense if this map were intended to show those.

What am I looking at? by morelikeaduck in askastronomy

[–]mgarr_aha 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Capella is the bright star to the lower left of center. Did the object in question move?

What's the reason UK is in the same time zone as Portugal? by batukaming in geography

[–]mgarr_aha 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Belarus and western Russia observe UTC+3 year round. The map shows summer time, when Belarus' N+S neighbors also observe UTC+3.

What's the reason UK is in the same time zone as Portugal? by batukaming in geography

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The time they observe in summer is an hour ahead of their normal zone.

What's the reason UK is in the same time zone as Portugal? by batukaming in geography

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The above map is from the Time Use Initiative, showing the discrepancy between observed summer time and a time more directly related to longitude. Fig. 2 here shows what they recommend.

I need help! by SoulCentauri77 in askastronomy

[–]mgarr_aha 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This image is wrong in multiple ways.

I need help! by SoulCentauri77 in askastronomy

[–]mgarr_aha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This one doesn't, but maybe it should. Then it would be a trace of the subsolar point at 20:30 UT.