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The Great Pumpkin hurtles toward Earth.

10/30/2015

11 Comments

 
A newly discovered asteroid dubbed the Great Pumpkin will shoot past Earth on Halloween.

The size of four football pitches, the rock will come will come within just 300,000 miles (480,000 km) of Earth. Astronomers will get an excellent opportunity to gather data, capture radar images, and measurements from the passing asteroid. Scientists expect to learn about the asteroid's shape, dimensions, surface features and other characteristics.

Scientists said the fact they did not know the asteroid was meant to come so close until just three weeks ago showed the importance of vigilance.

Normally they rely on expensive robotic space probes to gather information about such rocky bodies.
Small space rocks rain down on Earth constantly, with most disintegrating as they blaze through the atmosphere. In February 2013, a 65-foot-wide (20 m) asteroid broke apart over Chelyabinsk, Russia, shattering windows and damaging buildings. injuring more than 1,000 people.

NASA is working to map potentially dangerous asteroids and comets that pass within 30 million miles (48 million km) of Earth. Source: The Mirror.

Of course, we all know about the asteroid or comet roughly six miles (10 km) in diameter that crashed into what is now Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. That catastrophe about 65 million years ago caused global climate changes that killed off the dinosaurs along with about 75 percent of life that existed at the time.
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NASA had better keep a sharp look out.
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​You might not be aware of the dystopian Higher Ground series I wrote with a co-author Edith Parzefall. They are based on the premise of an asteroid strike in 2027. At the beginning of every novel, an excerpt of a diary hints at events.
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Here's a taster for you:
Journal of Tallulah McBride


March 23, 2027.

As the world ends, I've assembled my vellum and proper ink and pen. Vellum lasts longer than paper. I don't think anyone will survive the flood and devastation. The water is rising higher all the time and I haven't seen the sun for forty-eight hours. No light penetrates my room. I'm writing by candlelight. I'm not sure why I'm writing except that it might help me get a grip on what happened. And just maybe, someone will survive and read this journal.



Corn World. Britland.
Far in the future after the great flood.
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Chapter 1


On the bed next to her mother, Cerridwen snuggled further into her sleeping furs. Wind roared over the town, and rains lashed against the thick wooden walls of the house nestled half way down a steep slope above the quiet village. Built in the before times when men knew how to construct things properly, the house resisted continual rain. A lightning flash lit up the small room. Thunder roared. In the cot beside her, Mother whimpered and turned in her sleep.

Cerridwen concentrated on creaking noises followed by a thud. A tree struck by lightning? Aware of possible danger, she bolted upright. Her brother Ivan had left before sunrise with a group of Red Roof men to hunt deer in the first light. She hoped for their safe return.
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A mighty growl jarred her out of her drowsiness. What could it be? Not thunder. The sound lasted too long and grew into a rumble.

You can see all five books at an Amazon near you. I noticed the UK site is offering the paperback at the same price as the e-book right now, £3.48.


Universal links for Amazon books:

Wind Over Troubled Waters: http://bookgoodies.com/a/B007X57XMS
Knights in Dark Leather: http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00A3EYR0M
Golden Submarine: http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00C8T4O0I
Long Doom Calling: http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00DT6QHFO
Seaweed Ribbons: http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00Q3IVJ1M



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11 Comments
Michelle Combs link
10/30/2015 03:45:48 am

The great pumpkin...THAT is an awesome name for asteroid.

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Roy A. Ackerman, PhD, EA @ Cerebrations.biz link
10/30/2015 04:01:40 am

Ah, yes, the pumpkin asteroid will do nothing more to us than provide a simulated scare. Just like Halloween.

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Talya Tate Boerner link
10/30/2015 04:51:49 am

Your series of books sounds interesting! After having just seen The Martian, the whole space thing has really been on my mind.

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Ruthanne link
10/30/2015 05:08:05 am

LOVE the name for the new asteroid! :)

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Brenda Pace link
10/30/2015 05:58:38 am

Whoa! Why am i just hearing about this now? I love things like this. Makes me want to go out and stare I to the sky just to see if I can get a glimpse of the big pumpkin!

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Beth @GrannyBeth3 link
10/30/2015 07:03:58 am

Has the the cast from "Apocalypse" been alerted?

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Laurel Regan link
10/30/2015 08:38:40 am

I hadn't heard about the "Great Pumpkin" asteroid - very interesting, and rather scary when you think about it!

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Nick #thisyearinmusic link
10/30/2015 10:56:08 am

This is a very apt story! Will it also be an orange tinge?

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Salma link
10/30/2015 02:03:39 pm

Wow, that's amazing! That would be something great to see!

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Alana link
10/30/2015 03:24:09 pm

I remember when we were supposed to have a near miss from an asteroid - and then, although that was a nonevent, we got the meteor that landed in Russia, causing injuries and lots of property damage. We are well to be alert over such a celestial event. It's just a matter of time....

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Amy Bovaird link
10/30/2015 05:44:04 pm

Hi Francene,
Its a huge accomplishment that you wrote five books!!! They sound interesting and what a wonderful tie in to the Great Pumpkin asteroid. Very nice. Good luck on your sales!
Amy

Reply



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    Francene Stanley
    From England, I use news items in my novels which you can see below, all linked to an Amazon near you.

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