Russia to Attempt Deflection of Near-Earth Object Threat Apophis

In 2004, an asteroid called Apophis was discovered. After analyzing it's path across the solar system, astronomers established that it has a 1 in 37 chance of impacting Earth in 2029. With more detailed studies, the chances were dropped even if the asteroid will come to 29,450 kilometers near Earth. In 2036, it will again buzz by with an estimated to 1 in 250,000 chance of hitting. It seems that Apophis has a slim chance of hitting our planet. But in spite of the latest figures, the Russian Federal Space Agency is planning an unmanned mission to the asteroid to deflect it and lessen it's chances of hitting Earth even more.

According to the space agency's chief Anatoly Perminov, NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese Space Agency, and other like agencies around the world are likely to be invited to participate in the project. Don Yeomans, head of the NASA Near-Earth Object Program, says that "While Apophis is almost certainly not a problem, I am encouraged that the Russian science community is willing to study the various deflection options that would be available in the event of a future Earth threatening encounter by an asteroid."

Perminov said the mission will not require the use of a nuclear explosion, like what is depicted in movies like Armageddon and Deep Impact. He only said that calculations show that it's possible to create a special purpose spacecraft within the time left, which would help avoid the collision. While Perminov did not give specifics as to how Apophis will be deflected, he said it will have to be worked out.

Apophis is the name of an ancient Egyptian demon. Apophis, or Apep (left) in Egyptian, is the embodiment of darkness, dissolution, and non-being. He is the nemesis of the Sun god Ra. He is depicted as a snake that swallows beings into non-existence. He is supposed to have existed before creation and will continue to exist performing acts of malevolence.

Source of Australasian Tektites Believed to Be in In Cambodia, Laos, or Thailand

The most recent cataclysmic asteroid impact event happened about 770,000 years ago. For many, this is no longer a matter of speculation.

Much evidence, such as the presence of Iridium in geological soil layers associated with the event, support the conclusion that it was this impact that created the Australasian tektite strewn field in Indochina, Southeast Asia (including the Philippines), and Australia.

Chemically, these tektites were found to be similar in composition to the Irghizites related to the Zhamanshin asteroid impact site in Kazakhstan. This particular impact site also had the same age as the Australasian tektites (Philippinite shown at left), which made it a good candidate as the source. Scientists speculated that the ejecta from the impact were hurled high enough beyond the atmosphere to fall as far away as Asia in a process involving remelting.

The problem with connecting the Zhamanshin crater (left) to the Australasian tektites is that the crater may be too far away and it too small (some 15 kilometers) to have created enough energy to have created the strewn field. Research in the past twenty years have given scientists new insights into the origins of the Australasians and the distribution of the tektites, including those microtektites found in sea floor core drillings pointed to a likely source in Indochina, possibly in Southern Laos, Eastern Thailand, or Northern Cambodia (top picture).

Scientists even have the coordinates established: 12 degrees North latitude and 106 degrees East Longitude. The crater size is estimated to be around 100 kilometers. The estimates are based on established data concerning tektite distribution and characteristics in relation to distance traveled. Do you see any possible craters in the top picture? Actually, there is quite a few possible candidates, but they have all been studied. So what are the scientists missing? The crater must be staring them right in the face if the coordinates are correct. The crater must be there.

On site research was done on the Tonle Sap lake vicinity in Cambodia (left) to determine if evidence would be found for it to be identified as an impact crater, such as shock metamorphism, but there was none discovered. Possible craters in Northern Cambodia and Southern Laos were also surveyed but the results were negative. It's suspected that the crater is hidden by accumulated debris or is severely eroded to be recognized.

Thus, despite all the evidence pointing to a specific area to search which includes the size of the crater, the source of the Australasian tektites is still unidentified. It is one of the biggest geological and astronomical mysteries that need to be solved as the impact event (it may have been a multiple impact) is said to have caused a major global extinction that could have likely led to the extinction of animals like the stegodon and the nomadic paleolithic people who hunted them in places like the Cagayan Valley in the Philippines.

Coincidentally, the stone tools (following picture, below) found in the same stratigraphic layer of soil as the remains of stegodon pygmy elephants (left) in Cagayan Valley was also dated to be the same age as the tektites. Indeed, the tektite found in the same layer was pivotal in the dating of the artifacts, which could have been made by people contemporaneous to Homo Erectus.

You can see the many research papers and abstracts done on Australasian tektites, which include the Philippine tektites, at the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System. You can find the references to the information presented here in this post. Just type in the search bar keywords such as Philippine, Australasian, tektites, microtektites, and strewn field. A little bit of digging won't hurt. You may also check out this UK tektite site which has compiled much of the latest research on the subject.

FACT: as of this writing, the Australasian tektite strewn field (or much of it), is the only strewn field in the world with no associated source crater.



Allen Yu of the Philippines talks about meteorite collecting to Macrocosm Magbook.

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Strange Ring Structure in the Philippines Visible from Space

If you look at the Moon, you will see how much it's surface is cratered. Some of these craters are caused by meteoroids and small asteroids that have impacted the surface. But the picture above is not of the Moon. It's somewhere closer to home. In fact, it is home.

Unknown to many people, the Earth has also been subject to the bombardment of space rocks in the past and most recently in Peru (more links at the end of this post) such that it also has many craters. But unlike on the Moon, which has no atmosphere, less erosion, and geological changes, the craters on Earth have gone through upheavals and changes that have left them diminished, except for a few like the Wolf crater in Arizona.

This diagram of Asia (left) shows the general distribution of craters made by asteroids that have impacted in the past. It is from the Earth Impact Database, which documents impact sites all over the world. It is interesting to note that most countries in Asia, including the Philippines are not marked. Does this mean there are no impact sites in those places? Possibly. But it is also possible that they haven't been found yet.

The Philippine archipelago does get it's share of meteorites, the most recent that's been authenticated is the one that went down in the Mountain Provice of Bontoc. This rare rock from space is now in the possession of amateur astronomer Allen Yu of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (ALP) and consultant to Pyxis Astronomy Education Services.

The Philippines also has numerous tektites scattered in what is called strewn fields. There is a number of ideas about the origin of tektites, and one of them is the asteroid-impact theory.

Philippine tektites have been associated to geological events as far away as the Zhamanshin crater in Kazakhstan (left). But this is only a theory. The source of the Philippine tektites, the dark, glassy rocks used as amulets by locals, is still pretty much a matter of debate. It is possible that they came from a much closer, even local, source. The latest studies point to an Indochina crater.

I tried using Google Earth to look for impact sites in the Philippines. I managed to find circular structures, but most of these have definite volcanic origins, like the perfectly round lakes in San Pablo, Laguna and Quezon province (below). However, there is one structure in the big island of Luzon that is sizable enough to be noticed and it looks like a crater (top).


This landscape ring structure is in the province of Pangasinan and while it appears to be relatively flat, it is nevertheless outlined by a river system much like the Manicouagan crater in Canada, shown here from a space shuttle photograph (left). However, this crater is much larger and has a broader waterway.

The Pangasinan Ring, though small, has tree-lined river banks and rice fields that define a circular structure, making it more distinct from above with a whitish outline. A smaller ring is at the upper left corner. If you look closely, you will also see a road that bisects the "parent" ring. In the middle is a town where a grove of trees south of the long building with the blue roof, mark the very center (below).


The strange landscape feature is very easy to miss at ground level, and may not even be apparent from an aircraft flying at 30,000 feet. But it is very visible from outer space and an astronaut in orbit would readily see it.

Is it an ancient dried up lake? Is it an extinct volcanic basin? Is it an impact site that's been missed all these years? Is it the source of the tektites (left, from the alvinwriter collection) that are plentiful in Bicol region, further south? Perhaps it's just an odd landscape formation with nothing to it but the quirky path of the rivers?

Rocel Pereira, a remote sensing specialist, says its possible that the area inside the ring is of a higher elevation than the land outside. "Notice, that the area inside the ring is well vegetated," she says. "But my inference is only based on Google Earth. My suggestion is to check out the elevation and contours in the area using topographic maps, which can be purchased from the National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (NAMRIA)."

The Earth Impact Database has set criteria for determining if a structure that resembles a crater is an asteroid impact site or not. Included here are shatter cones, multiple planar deformation features in minerals, the presence of high pressure mineral polymorphs, the existence of an impact melt sheet or dikes, and the presence of pseudotachylyte and breccias.

The Pangasinan Ring can only be classified as an impact site if many of the criteria for authenticating a crater-like geological structure are found there. The findings will also need to be verified by experts. While intriguing to think and speculate about, it is likely that this landscape feature is not an impact site, as suggested by Pereira's initial impressions. But if you have a personal opinion or a clue as to what this strange structure is, feel free to comment. It would be interesting to know what people think. If you like, you can even view and study the Pangasinan Ring yourself using Google Earth. You can download the program here.

Satellite views of the Philippines are from Google Earth.
Asteroid impact site pictures and Asia diagram are from Earth Impact Database.
Picture of Moon and Earth together is from TwilightEffect.

Search for source of Australasian tektites crater source move to Indochina.

Physical evidence of prehistoric tigers in the Philippines unearthed in Palawan.

Click here for news and a video about the meteorite crash that sickened people in a Peruvian village.

More videos about research done on the sickening qualities of the Peruvian crater here.

Japan's First Moon Probe Reaches Destination

Japan is going where no Japanese has gone before with its first lunar probe now orbiting the Moon. The Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE), is considered the biggest lunar mission undertaking since the Apollo missions of the United States. It cost $279 million to launch. It uses two sub-satellites for the polar regions. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) hopes that the new probe will help shed light on the Moon's origins. The picture above is an artist's rendition of the successful mission.

In related news, Star Trek actor George Takei, now 70, was honored with an asteroid bearing his name (7307 Takei). The asteroid, which was discovered by two Japanese astronomers in 1994 (hence its original name, 1994 GT9) follows a list of others named after people involved in the famous science-fiction series, like creator Gene Roddenberry (4659 Roddenberry), and Enterprise communications officer actress Nichelle Nichols (68410 Nichols).

It was astronomy professor Tom Burbine, of the Massachusetts Mt. Holyoke College who lobbied for naming an asteroid after Takei, who is now known for his work on Howard Stein's radio show and in civil rights groups.

More on Star Trek and the latest movie by J.J. Abrams.