Imbolc                                                                  Valentine Moon

A big day for Asteroid 2012 DA14, but an even bigger one for the Chelyabinsk fireball.  Must have a great PR agent.  Timing its fiery entrance as space shuttle sized DA14 passed by ensured the Chelyabinsk meteor, “only” the size of an SUV according to an MIT scientist, a forever memory in the hearts of all of us interested in astronomical phenomenon.

(Asteroid 2012 DA14, seen from the Gingin Observatory in Australia. Image via NASA.)

I heard a New York Times reporter ask the same scientist from MIT if Siberia attracted these kind of events, referencing, of course, the Tunguska event in 1908 that flattened an area of the taiga roughly 1,000 square miles in area.  No, he said.  Coincidence.

When asked about the how much we should be concerned about an extinction level event, the same scientist, dodged the question.  Didn’t make me feel secure.  Here’s a link to the article and the video interview.