Today in West Cornwall the sun is shining unobscured by the omnipresent cloud cover that is a regular feature round here at this time of year.
Politicians do NOT like satire when it is directed against them. Satire is one of a political activist’s/campaigner’s most deadly weapons, but like all weapons such as an assault rifle, it can be used against them as well!
Today’s title has three purposes:
One is to reference “Don’t Look Up”, a 2021 American political satire black comedy film/movie written, co-produced, and directed by Adam McKay from a story he co-wrote with David Sirota. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep. In the film, it tells the story of two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy human civilization. The impact event is an allegory for climate change, and the film is a satire of government, political, celebrity, and media indifference to the climate crisis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Look_Up).
Another is to point out the obvious: Do NOT look directly at the Sun!
The last (but not the least) is to reference the interstellar object, 3iATLAS which today reaches it’s perihelion (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perihelion) on it’s journey through our solar system.
IF 3iATLAS is an entirely natural object, it WILL follow the path that astronomers have predicted for it. This will bring it close (in astronomical terms) to Jupiter and thence out of our solar system and back into the vastness of interstellar space.
Of course, IF 3iATLAS is NOT entirely natural object but a wholly or partly (an adapted asteroid) artificial object, it MIGHT still follow the path that astronomers have predicted for it. In this instance during it’s passage through our solar system it would observe the bodies orbiting our sun in a similar way that our space probes observe the celestial bodies that we send them to observe.
There IS however another possibility: That 3iATLAS being a wholly or partly (an adapted asteroid) artificial object, it MIGHT alter it’s path with the intention of remaining in our solar system. It MIGHT do this by performing a reverse Oberth manoeuvrer.
A reverse Oberth manoeuvrer is a spacecraft manoeuvrer that applies thrust at periapsis (the point closest to a star) to slow down, rather than speed up, to become more bound to the star’s orbit. This counter-intuitive braking manoeuvrer is most efficient at periapsis because it changes the orbit’s kinetic energy with the least amount of delta-v (change in velocity), allowing the spacecraft to use less fuel to brake and stay on a more tightly bound path. It is optimal for slowing down from a high speed to enter a stable orbit, rather than escaping it.
The standard Oberth manoeuvrer adds energy to a spacecraft’s orbit by firing its engines at the point of highest speed, which is periapsis. This provides the largest possible increase in kinetic energy.
A reverse Oberth manoeuvrer does the opposite: it applies thrust in the direction opposite to the spacecraft’s motion at periapsis, causing it to slow down. Because the spacecraft is moving at its highest velocity at periapsis, braking at this point is the most efficient way to reduce its orbital energy and get it to a more circular or bound orbit, according to Professor Avi Loeb (https://astronomy.fas.harvard.edu/people/avi-loeb). This technique is particularly useful for slowing down from high speeds, such as an interstellar object entering the solar system.
It is worth noting that 3iATLAS at it’s perihelion is approximately 1.35/1.36 AU (Astronomical Units) from the Sun which is of course a lot further away from the Sun than is Earth which is at 1 AU (Astronomical Unit). In distance from the Sun, Earth (150 million kilometres/93 million miles), lies between Venus at approximately 0.72 AU from the Sun (108 million kilometres/67 million miles) and Mars which is 1.5AU (228 million kilometres/142 million miles) from the Sun.
Thus were 3iATLAS to insert itself into an orbit of the Sun at it’s perihelion it would be at a distance of approximately 203 million kilometres/126 million miles from the Sun. Since 3iATLAS would be in a retrograde (opposite direction) orbit 3iATLAS and Earth would pass each other on a regular basis! This would be at a distance of 53 million kilometres/33 million miles. It is also worth noting that 31ATLAS’s orbit would (unlike Earth’s) be inclined at 5 Degrees to the ecliptic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic) which happens to the the same as the Moon that is inclined at 5 Degrees! This would mean that it would be a relatively straight forward practise for a spacecraft to make the journey to and from 3iATLAS to the Moon and vice-versa!
Of course, Rebecca Morelle (below), currently BBC News Science Editor would insist that all this is pure co-incidence! Rebecca’s job (as with all her colleagues) is to follow the establishment’s preferred storyline!
Be in NO DOUBT. IF 3iATLAS performs the above mentioned manoeuvrer, astronomers will soon be aware of this. They will be able to accurately predict 3iATLAS’s orbit and if it is as I postulate, they will be able to assure all of us that there is NO possibility of a collision between 3iATLAS and Earth and that the proximity of it’s orbit will pose NO significant change to Earth’s orbit or tides.
Be in NO DOUBT however, the existing establishments across the world will be concerned! This because it will affect their power bases!
The FACT is this: IF 3iATLAS follows the course that astronomers have plotted and it travels out of our solar system in the manner of a natural object, the existing establishments across the world will be relieved!
Hard evidence of this concern is demonstrated by NASA’s continuing withholding of the high(er) resolution images their spacecraft orbiting Mars took some time ago! Be in NO DOUBT, were these images confirming that 3iATLAS was just a rock (a large one) travelling through our solar system with no evidence whatsoever of any artificial elements to it, they would have released the images! The US government shutdown is a convenient excuse NOT TO!