Just a quick couple of notes regarding the recent meteoric rise of media attention about the wayward heavenly objects heading earth’s way. Friday was the long-touted closest contact of an asteroid significantly larger than the one that created Arizona’s Barringer Crater. While we were all distracted watching the real-time feeds for 2012 DA14, a meteor slipped through the atmosphere, putting on one heavenly show over Chelyabinsk, Russia. No doubt you’ve seen the phenomenal video and pictures... including the fakes of fiery volcanic craters... some of the debris made a hole in the ice on a lake, but no volcanos were created.
Those attending the Tucson Gem and Mineral show were wishing this star had fallen long before the show so they could sell some precious meteor morsels for forty-two times the value of gold per volume.
Since the barrage of media attention has gone above and beyond, we’ve also seen video of fireballs in the night sky over San Francisco and Miami. Is the world ending? No. Is the sky falling? Yes, and it always does. Tons of asteroid and comet dust material enter our atmosphere and strike earth on a regular basis. Yes, the Chelyabinsk blast was something of a once in a century event, but those types of impacts will occasionally occur. Can we do anything about it?
A group of former astronauts now seeks funding to launch a satellite system specifically designed to provide advance warning of large meteoric objects that could otherwise slip through the cracks. Once detected, will we blow them to pieces ala Bruce Willis and his gang of demolition asteroid destroyers? No. That would cause a lot more trouble and it would be virtually impossible to predict which way debris would go. The actual agenda would be to land on the asteroid and “redirect” the orbit of the object. This can actually be done, as it was done on Eros in February 2001 just before Valentine’s Day. It would just take a heap of money.
Meanwhile, amateur astronomers continue to scour the skies to see what they can see. In fact, 2012 DA14, was discovered just a little longer than a year ago... by an amateur team in Spain. (This is why I’m not much for the “government is covering up astronomical reality” fan.) And the telescopes in multiple locations here in Arizona and on Mauna Kea in Hawaii are working overtime, locating Near Earth Object, Potentially Hazardous objects, and centaurs and scattered disk objects and Trans-Neptunian bodies, oh my! Like tweets in cyberspace during a major real world event, it’s crowded out there.
Now, should one worry about being struck by an asteroid? The odds are astronomical. Will the Earth be wiped out by a cosmic invader? Efforts are being advanced to ensure humankind does not go the way of the T-Rex.
If there is a point to derive from this recent media-hyped meteor rage, it seems two-pronged. One, live in awe of the majesty of the heavens. Two, live life as if the sky is falling. Put it out there every day without reserve.
The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Chiron and Neptune are in Pisces. And so are Borasisi, Salacia, Teharonhiawako and the dwarf planet 225088. If there is a good time for inspiration and awe, this is it. Be uplifted and aspiring. Replace the effects of fearful angst with fierce fecundity. Maybe check out one of those amazing films up for an Academy Awards for a boost. Start your creative project - Mercury retrograde in three days be damned (except for maybe starting a PR campaign). Invoke the compassion that accompanies the realization we’re all on this planet together. Get mused. Be a muse. Restore the sense of awe of the heavens above. If you do, you’ll be lined up with existing placement of the planets and their companions. You never know, perhaps a meteoric rise to previously unknown heights follows.