NASA: Strange Object Debris Coming, Will Hit Earth December 13th and 14th

The Geminid meteor shower peaks on Dec. 13th and 14th when Earth runs through a stream of debris from a strange object that some astronomers are calling a “rock comet.”

The 2012 Geminid meteor shower peaks on the night of Dec. 13-14, The Geminids are a unique meteor shower in that their identified parent body is not a comet, but what seems to be an asteroid! Of the meteor showers with known parent bodies studied by meteor scientists, the Geminids are the only shower to have an asteroidal parent body; all others have a cometary origin. 3200 Phaethon measures 5.10 km in diameter which increases the ‘unique’ factor; considering the amount of debris we see, we would expect Phaethon to be a much larger body! 

Artist’s Concept of a Rock comet

Phaethon was discovered on October 11, 1983 using the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, and named after the Greek myth of Phaethon, son of the sun god Helios, due to its close approach to our Sun. 

Phaethon is technically classified as an asteroid — the first to be discovered via satellite. But how could an asteroid produce meteoroids that cause the Geminids? One theory is that Phaethon broke apart from another object, ejecting meteoroids as a part of the breakup. This doesn’t agree with other things we know, however. Another theory is that a collision with another object thousands of years ago could have produced debris that Earth now travels through. This theory appears to be unlikely as well, based on other evidence. Another theory assumes Phaethon to be a dead comet (the spent nucleus of a comet whose ices had been sublimated away) that produced debris in the past that now intersects Earth’s orbit. But no evidence for mass loss from the object has ever been reported…. until recently.

In 2009 the NASA spacecraft STEREO-A observed 3200 Phaethon to brighten by a factor of two, quite unexpectedly. This brightening at perihelion was likely due to a release of dust from the object, possibly due to heating and cracking of the surface rocks as Phaethon came close to the Sun. That brings us to the fourth theory, that Phaethon is a rock comet. The problem with this theory is that it doesn’t account for the amount of dust in the Geminid stream.

So what it comes down to is that the Geminid parent object is a mystery.

http://beforeitsnews.com/space/2012/12/nasa-strange-object-debris-coming-will-hit-earth-december-13th-and-14th-2450296.html

Strange “Vibrations” Detected Throughout The United States

Seen on multiple nodes managed by different institutions, feeding back to the CERI / Midwest USGS official charts across the region… what can only be described as low end vibrations, over a VERY large area.

NOT to be confused with earthquakes elsewhere around the planet, this is something I have not seen before over such a wide area.

Did the sensor network undergo some kind of damage?  Is there some kind of interference happening?  Is this a REAL detection of low frequency vibrations occurring?

Time will tell on this…

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Here is the main link .. .click on CERI, SLU, or any of the other ‘nodes’.. then select 11/30/2012 (most current charts).. and then compare to a few days or weeks, or months ago by clicking back through the charts (listed by date):

http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/seismic/heli/index.html

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use these links here to monitor earthquake activity nationally, and internationally:

http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/11302011-list-of-earthquake-links-for-global-monitoring/

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The Live Internet Seismic Server also shows this activity.http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_anss.php

Read More Here

http://beforeitsnews.com

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'Polar Wander:' Earth's Outer Layers May Be Drifting Over Molten Core

The entire outermost part of Earth may be wandering over the planet's whirling molten core, new research suggests.

Knowing whether the Earth's outer layers are roaming in this manner is key to understanding the big picture of how the planet's surface is evolving overall, scientists added.

At various times in Earth's history, the planet's solid exterior — its crust and mantle layers — has apparently drifted over the planet's spinning core. To picture this, imagine that a peach's flesh somehow became detached from a peach's pit and was free to move about over it.

This movement of the Earth's outer layers is known as "true polar wander." It differs from the motion of the individual tectonic plates making up Earth's crust, known as tectonic drift, or the motions of Earth's magnetic pole, called apparent polar wander.

'Hot spot' landmarks

Past research suggested the Earth experienced true polar wander during the early Cretaceous period that lasted from 100 million to 120 million years ago. Determining when, in which direction and at what rate true polar wander is taking place depends on having stable landmarks against which one can observe the motion of Earth's outer shell, much like one can tell a cloud is moving by seeing if its position has changed relative to its surroundings.

Volcanic "hot spots," or areas of recurrent volcanism, are one potential landmark. Geologists have suggested these are created by mantle plumes, giant jets of hot rock buoying straight upward from near the Earth's core. Mantle plumes are thought to create long island chains such as the Hawaiian Islands as they sear tectonic plates drifting overhead.

Scientists have treated hot spots as stationary features for decades. The idea was that material surrounding the mantle plumes roil about to form structures known as convection cells that kept the plumes straight and fixed in place. [50 Amazing Volcano Facts]

Later on, however, researchers began suggesting that mantle plumes could move about slightly, caught as they are in the flowing mantle layer under the crust. "From this point of view, the plumes are expected to move, bend and get distorted by the 'mantle wind,' resulting in hot spot drift over geologic time," said researcher Pavel Doubrovine, a geophysicist at the University of Oslo in Norway.

By allowing hot spot positions to meander slowly, Doubrovine and his colleagues have devised computer simulations that better match observations of the chains of islands created by each hot spot.

"Estimating hot spot drift in the geological past is not a trivial task," Doubrovine told OurAmazingPlanet. "It requires substantial modeling efforts."

The scientists then compared the way the Earth's outermost layers drifted in relation to the planet's axis of spin. The Earth's magnetic field is aligned with the core's axis of rotation, and researchers can tell how Earth's magnetic field was oriented in the past by analyzing ancient rock. Magnetic minerals in molten rock can behave like compasses, aligning with Earth's magnetic field lines, an orientation that gets frozen in place once the rock solidifies.

Current wandering

Using their simulations and the magnetic field rock record, the scientists identified three new potential instances of true polar wander over the past 90 million years. These include two cases in which the Earth's solid outermost layers traveled back and forth by nearly 9 degrees off Earth's axis of spin from 40 million to 90 million years ago. Moreover, the researchers suggest that Earth's outer shell has been undergoing true polar wander for the past 40 million years, slowly rotating at a rate of 0.2 degrees every million years.

Researchers suspect true polar wander is caused by shifting of matter within the mantle, due, for instance, to variations in temperature and composition. However, "we don't know yet what specific tectonic events may have triggered the specific episodes of true polar wander that we identified," Doubrovine said.

These new details regarding true polar wander could help shed light on what triggers it. In the future, the researchers plan to look even further in the past at how the planet's outermost layers have changed. Doubrovine and his colleagues Bernhard Steinberger and Trond Torsvik detailed their findings online Sept. 11 in the Journal of Geophysical Research — Solid Earth.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/polar-wander-earths-outer-layers-drifting-molten-core_n_1948876.html

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Collapses tunnel in Japan near to Mt. Fuji, 7 missing

December 2, 2012 – JAPAN - Japanese highway police found “several” burned bodies inside a vehicle after a tunnel collapsed about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Tokyo. At least two cars remained trapped Sunday after the tunnel collapse, according to the East Yamanashi Fire Department. Fire officials said the section of concrete that fell was about 50 to 60 meters long and about 20 centimeters (8 inches) thick.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear, nor was the total number of people affected. The Sasago tunnel is on the Chuo Expressway. The cave-in occurred on the Tokyo-bound lanes, Otsuki police said. The road was temporarily closed, and authorities were working to rescue victims, police said. Japanese public broadcaster NHK aired images from the tunnel, showing smoke rising and a blue car with its side smashed in. Emergency vehicles were on scene. A journalist from NHK was driving through the tunnel at the time of the collapse. He told the broadcaster his car was damaged, but he was able to make it out unhurt. – CNN

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Something strange is happening at Yellowstone!

Strange signals from the Yellowstone caldera. The ancient volcano wants to get back alive? 

Something strange is happening at Yellowstone! Or, something strange is happening to the tools that monitor the seismic activity of the volcano more dangerous than the entire planet. Looking at the data of the ' observatory Norris Junction shows something very strange. Starting at 18:00 on 28 November 2012, the seismic recordings seem like crazy and completely out of scale (see below). Currently (December 2, 2012), the readings are not yet back to normal, but they mark particularly intense seismic activity.

What is happening to the Yellowstone Caldera ? The volcano wants to return to wake up? Or it is a simple malfunction of the instruments? Below, you can see the image of the seismic activity of the November 28, 2012, until 18:00 that seemed normal, until I started reading these "crazy". [ See original data ].

At the time of writing this post, the situation does not seem to change. In the following days, November 29 , November 30 and December 1 

the data is still out of range. Following the reading of 1 December. What is happening in Yellowstone? Looking in the network, there appears to be still no official explanation of the anomalies recorded in the seismic data of the caldera. The first hypothesis we could calm our hearts is that it is a malfunction of seismographs. The second hypothesis, much more disturbing, is that the volcano, after a long period of 74,000 years, has decided to resume its activities. 

The volcano is located under the Yellowstone National Park is about 70 km long, 30 km wide and is located 8 km deep beneath the earth's crust, potentially one of the largest volcanoes in the world. Since 2004 the level of the magma rose to a record pace of six centimeters per year and experts fear the possibility of an eruption, the third in the last 2.1 million years. Between 2007 and 2010, the volcano seems to have remained stalled, but overall the ground around the volcano has risen by about 25 cm. "This is a remarkable observation, especially in such a vast area," said Bob Smith , a professor of geology at the ' University of Utah . The lack of reliable data prevents to determine whether and what a certain period of risk: the fact is that in the case of an explosive eruption that would be a thousand times more powerful than the Mount St Helens and the potential to make uninhabitable two thirds the United States. Millions of people remain homeless, toxic fumes contaminate crops and water sources. 

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Vanuatu: the earth trembles, strong earthquake of M 6.4

December 2, 2012 Vanuatu , the archipelago, which has a volcanic origin located about 1750 km east of Australia , and 'was hit by astrong earthquake of magnitude 6.4 in the Richter scale tonight at 0:54 UTC.L 'seismic event and' took place at a depth 'of 29 km located at 111 km NW Vila.Per time are not given reports
of damage or injury. The last major earthquake in the region Vanuatu On 25 December 2010, a strong earthquake measuring
7.6 hit the island causing a tsunami. On 29 December 2010 a new earthquake of magnitude 6.8 hit the island. On 21 August 2011 another earthquake of magnitude 7.5 hit the island with dangerous tsunami. March 9, 2012 another earthquake of magnitude 7.1 hit the island. On 21 October 2012, a further 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck the island.

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Powerful 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Alaska

USGS map.

December 01, 2012 - ALASKA - Residents on Kodiak Island and the Kenai Peninsula in the state of Alaska were shaken awake at 11:00pm on Friday night as a 5.9 magnitude earthquake shook the region, but there are no immediate reports of any damages. The strong quake struck the Alaska Peninsula/ South Central region with a great deal of strength. It wasn’t like the mild succession of quakes that occurred Thursday.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says the quake was widely felt.


Jeff Antill wrote to us saying, “I felt and heard the 5.8 quake here in Anchorage. Our roof is heavy timbers and it makes alot of noise in even the smallest quakes. This one shook everything quite well.”

On the other hand, Chris Bryant says, “It wasn’t too bad. It felt like somebody was running on the deck outside. I only knew it was a quake because of the vibrations left over after the initial jolt.”

The Kodiak Police Department says there were no reports of damage or other problems early Saturday.
A quake of this size has the capacity to cause considerable damage under some circumstances.

The quick jolt occurred 69 miles north of Larsen Bay and 238 miles southwest of Anchorage. It was generated at a depth of 52.1 miles beneath the surface on the mainland across from Kodiak Island. The location of this earthquake was equidistant between the long quiet region of Devil’s Desk and Kaguyak Volcano. Devil’s Desk is a volcanic neck of a former stratovolcano now completely surrounded by Hook Glacier. Erosion has removed most of the stratovolcano. Wes Hildreth of USGS as well as others state that Devil’s Desk was active 292,000 years ago to the Holocene.

Kaguyak Volcano is another stratovolcano that had its last major eruption about 5,800 years before present, and has been largely quiet since that time with no recent eruptions or activity for at least the last 1,200 years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement advising that there was no tsunami danger from this quake.

The U.S. Geological survey has detected 20 earthquakes today, 214 earthquakes in the past 7 days, 830 earthquakes in the past month, and 17,479 earthquakes in the past year.

The Alaska quake was first reported as having a 5.6 magnitude energy level, however, seismologist changed it to a 5.9 in the last hour. - Guardian Express.

Near-Earth Asteroid 2012 DA14 to make extremely close approach in February 2013

Small asteroid 2012 DA14 will make an extremely close approach on February 15, 2013. It will pass by Earth at distance of about 27,000 km (17,000 miles/no closer than 0.000181 AU ) from the center of the Earth; within about 3.5 Earth radii of the Earth's surface. This near-Earth asteroid was discovered on February 22, 2012 by LaSagra Observatory in the mountains of Andalusia in southern Spain. Asteroid 2012 DA14 is thought to be about 45 meters in diameter and his estimated mass about 130,000 metric tons.


(Planetary Radio features Jaime Nomen discussing La Sagra's discovery of 2012 DA14. Listen here! )

Its orbit is almost circular but still enough elliptical to pass near Earth two times per year. The preliminary orbit shows that 2012 DA14 has a very Earth-Like orbit with a period of 366 days. On February 16, 2012 it was about 2.5 million km (1.5 million miles) away (about 6 times the distance to the Moon).

The Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass below distance where many commercial satellites are flying. It will pass inside the geosynchronous satellite ring, located about 35,800 km above the equator. The nominal pass will be 0.00023 AU (34,000 km; 21,000 miles) from the center-point of the Earth.

It is expected that the asteroid will travel rapidly from the southern evening sky into the northern morning sky on February 15, 2013. About 4 minutes after its Earth close approach, there is a good chance it will pass into the Earth's shadow for about 18 minutes or so before reappearing from the eclipse. When traveling rapidly into the northern morning sky, 2012 DA14 will quickly fade in brightness.

© NASA/NEO
The Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass below distance where many commercial satellites are flying. It will pass inside the geosynchronous satellite ring, located about 35,800 km above the equator. The nominal pass will be 0.00023 AU (34,000 km; 21,000 miles) from the center-point of the Earth.
It is expected that the asteroid will travel rapidly from the southern evening sky into the northern morning sky on February 15, 2013. About 4 minutes after its Earth close approach, there is a good chance it will pass into the Earth's shadow for about 18 minutes or so before reappearing from the eclipse. When traveling rapidly into the northern morning sky, 2012 DA14 will quickly fade in brightness.

If the orbit that has been derived from the available data is accurate, during the closest approach, 2012 DA14 will be visible from Europe and Asia as an 6 - 7th magnitude star, crossing the sky from the southwest to the northeast at a speed of almost one Moon diameter per minute. It wont be visible by naked eye but it is possible that it could be seen by binoculars.

Impact Risk

Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass by Earth at distance of about 27,000 km (17,000 mile) from the center of the Earth. Just for comparison - 400-meters wide asteroid YU 55 passed 320,000 kilometers (200,000 miles) from Earth on November 8, 2011. Even closer flyby of asteroid 2011 MD last June was closer than DA14 will at a distance of only 12,070 km (7,500 miles). But one thing is certain - it will surely miss us next year!

For now, the orbit of 2012 DA14 is such that it will not crash into Earth for the foreseeable future. It rates 0 (No Hazard) on the Torino scale.

With such a close approach to Earth, our planet's gravity will change its future path and rise a chance of future impact.

© Deimos-Space
In this plot, the asteroid is the yellow dot, and Earth is green; the two orbits intersect twice per year.

There is an estimated cumulative 0.033% risk (1 in 3,030) of 2012 DA14 impacting Earth sometime between 2026 and 2069.

Some scientist believe that similar-in-size object hit Tunguska in 1918. If it were to strike the Earth, it is estimated that it would produce the equivalent of 2.4 megatons of TNT. The Tunguska event has been estimated at 3−20 megatons.

Observing 2012 DA14 will provide a good test as we anticipate the 2029 flyby of Apophis, a bigger asteroid (around 270 meters) that is expected to have a very close encounter too, at around 36,000 kilometers.

2012 DA14 - Earth Impact Risk Summary

TheWatchers.com

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