Last week CNN posted what appeared to be a semi-urgent story that an asteroid would come close to the Earth during the Super Bowl. I went to the trusty SpaceWeather.com for more information.
Yeah, well, sort of. CNN is correct. A somewhat larger Near-Earth Object (NEO)/Potential Hazardous Asteroid (PHO) will pass near the Earth on Super Bowl Sunday. The minor planet object 276033 (2002 AJ129) is bigger than most PHO’s - 646 meters in diameter - large enough to annihilate the dinosaurs if it hit the Earth or at least those so rigid as to be fossilized in consciousness.
But here’s the thing... 276033 passes us at 11 Lunar Distances (LD) when it comes closest in this orbital pass. On the same day a significantly smaller (15 m) PHO comes as close as 5.3 LD. In the past weeks we’ve had smaller PHOs come 3.1 LD and 4.8 LD. And on February 24th a PHO comes to within 3.7 LD. Though smaller than 276033, if any of these objects were diverted and dove into our atmosphere, the fireball, sonic blast and more, would get our attention. Why the touted story about this PHO?
Is it only that 276033 is so large? On the day of its closest approach to Earth the Sun and Earth are within three degrees of the object’s node (18 Leo 03). Is the object screaming for attention? Is it summoning our legislators not to shut down the government so the doors can stay open at facilities that scan the skies for incoming asteroids, intending to keep us alert and safe? Or is it just good news drama - the kind of stuff that can scare the bedookies out of humankind?
How about a call for consideration that facts, figures and fervent declarations require dramatic distillation to ensure the urgency of claims are not hyperbolized, or perhaps worse, parabolized? It’s a Mercury thing. Facts are facts. It’s a Pluto thing. It’s the thought that counts and it’s the intent that counts.
Here’s an interesting note or two: during the recent Mercury Pluto conjunction in Capricorn...
A radio signal sky scanner researcher guy, who scans the skies looking for emanations from spy satellites rediscovered the lost IMAGE satellite. This satellite was used to study our magnetosphere and it went dormant - presumably died - ten years ago. One theory is its batteries were weakened during an eclipse.
Is this an omen that you’ll find the lost keys or remote whose batteries died such that you cannot ping it to figure out where it is?
Not only did the IMAGE satellite “reincarnate” during the Mercury-Pluto alignment, the FBI relocated texts lost during a recent system glitch. This is notable because specific members of Congress were intent on declaring a secret society was seeking to undermine the President and that the FBI intentionally eliminated texts between two agents in the Mueller probe... and this was all the doing of a most horrible shadow government. Actually, all messages disappeared, not just the texts of the two agents involved. All the lost messages were recovered... so that whole thing about hidden data, those conspiring to hide facts and such, might have been a trickster manifestation courtesy of Mercury, intending to reveal the true intent behind the scenes and the fervent declarations.
It is interesting to note that of the traditional planets (still considering Pluto part of that pack), Mercury and Pluto enjoy the greatest range of motion from the ecliptic. Far-reaching, more meandering or perhaps some other symbolic association could be (re)discovered and reassigned as operation keywords.
If you put Mercury and Pluto together, their tag line is : the truth is... and really mean it. If you say it, make sure it’s true. Make sure you know why you’re saying it. On the heels of Mercury and Pluto aligning, the lunar eclipse, the upcoming solar eclipse and the recent conjunction of Sun and Icarus, it is a time to clarify facts, statements made, and examine soulful motives, distances actually traveled (versus claims of travel, expertise and experience) and to assess to what effective heights one may safely ascend.
Here’s to high flying, soulful soaring and following winds.
More soon.