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Russian Meteor [Update]

Okay. I trust Phil. He says this isn’t part of the passing asteroid 2012 DA14, and this is why I trust him:

The distance between Earth and 2012 DA14 is approximately correct.  The length of the meteor trail is NOT. [1]

The distance between Earth and 2012 DA14 is approximately correct. The length of the meteor trail is NOT. *

I have tried to be as clear as I can when I created this diagram. The Russian Meteor and asteroid 2012 DA14 have COMPLETELY different paths. The directions are more-or-less correct in this diagram. The length of the meteor trail is too long, but the distance between the Earth and the asteroid is about correct.

This is why I strongly, STRONGLY think the two are unrelated. They’re just plain going different directions.

Okay. Basics:

Go read:

1) Phil Plait [5]

2) Emily Lakdawalla [6]

3) Alan Boyle [7]

We all make mistakes, but I trust them and they can help you weed out the real reports from the hoax reports. There are NO flaming craters, but it is an exciting event. Hoping everyone heals up from the falling glass okay.

* Thanks to @AstroGuyz [8] I corrected a misspelling in the original diagram. That’s what I get for blogging at 2am!

~ A l i c e !