Editing Talk:2345: Wish on a Shooting Star

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The other title text references:
https://meteoritecar.com/
https://alabamanewscenter.com/2017/11/30/on-this-day-in-alabama-history-meteorite-struck-oak-groves-ann-hodges/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event


I often wish for cool lights in the sky tho...
: Not a bad wish to have. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.39|108.162.238.39]] 21:58, 12 August 2020 (UTC)
:: Though someone could think of wanting that, it wouldn't be anyone's first most important choice if you told them they could have a wish granted, unlike the things listed in the wish part of this diagram.--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.52|172.68.38.52]] 05:57, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

Am I the only person who wishes for radio noise? [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 21:53, 12 August 2020 (UTC)
: Enough radio noise on the right frequencies could drown out talk radio, so ... you're not the only one wishing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.39|108.162.238.39]] 21:58, 12 August 2020 (UTC)

Meteors relative speed to Earth is surely high. However, note that Earth's orbital speed is 29.78 km/s, while the average orbital speed of meteoroids is 20km/s. In many cases it's therefore Earth which hits the meteors with it's high orbital speed ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:37, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
That's wrong, because no matter how low the relative velocity is, as the asteroid falls through Earth's gravity well, its going to accelerate to escape velocity at the very least. So its going to hit at 11km/s+ at a minimum if it hits the earth. Get your facts right.
: A laughable claim, Mister Bond, perpetuated by overzealous teachers of science.
: (The unsigned comment above looked to be continued in the unsigned comment below, until I came here to day something and saw they were separate. Hey, people...) It would help if you could say "average at 20km/s ''whilst crossing Earth's orbit''...", because averaged across its entire track might include a lot of drifting around 'out there' and maybe zooming by (or not) during the perihelion segment. And then you only need to worry about retrograde ones (20+29.78, for a palpably mutual hit) and all kinds of other directions of cross, not just ones obviously aphelioning at 1AU in a relatively recently induced orbit that is about to end. Someone must have a table of (known/calculated) closing speeds, as well as directional components defined to Earth's frame-of-reference. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.132|141.101.98.132]] 04:08, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

With the valuable minerals contained within meteorites, it's reasonable that shooting stars could cause money/power. And to astrogeologists, there's success right there!
: If someone makes money off of selling a meteor they found, it's because they are a rare curiosity or of scientific value, not due to the minerals being of high value if they didn't come from a meteor.  Though there are some historical cases of people without the technology to forge iron normally making iron tools from a meteor.  However, someone finding the meteor on the ground later is a little different than the direct results of it falling (as the chart says things caused by "shooting stars" not "meteor rocks")--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.52|172.68.38.52]] 05:57, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
: Even if there are valuable minerals in a meteorite, the quantity is too small for anyone but a villainous business guy from a kid's cartoon to care more about that than the "This is a SPACE ROCK!" factor. If an industrially meaningful quantity of valuable minerals struck the Earth from space, we would be mourning the lives lost to the earthshaking impact, not celebrating the mineral wealth. (...well, maybe a couple of mining executives who secured the contract would be celebrating. Those kid's cartoons aren't ''completely'' wrong.) Remember—it's not the minerals that makes space rocks valuable, it's being able to mine them easily and without damage to the environment. (And, for some of the coolest applications, the fact that we don't need to drag them into space.) [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 12:20, 19 August 2020 (UTC)

Gee, and here I thought he was making a pun to do with assassinating celebrities. -- [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.157|172.69.68.157]]

Why did somebody write "Of course, as the title text makes clear, meteorites don't really land according to our designs and schedules"? It's equally valid to interpret it as meteorites being very precise and capricious on their revenge-wish-granting. -- Anonymous

There should be a reference to https://xkcd.com/1337/ as well. -- Myon

My first guess was historical reference. Octavian/Augustus Caesar supposedly used the seven-day outburst of Caesar's Comet as evidence of Julius Caesar's divinity, and as a political tool in his own rise to power. It certainly afforded him great capacity for vengeance against his political foes and the likes of Marc Antony, since being the adoptive son of a god was Sort Of A Big Deal when it came to political clout in that volatile time. As such, it does seem to have contributed to his gaining fame, power, money and success, largely in the form of his very own Roman Empire... To say the least, he'd presumably have been quite satisfied with the results if he HAD wished on that fateful star. [[User:Nitro~Nina|Nitro~Nina]] ([[User talk:Nitro~Nina|talk]]) 04:58, 26 August 2020 (UTC)

As the events listed in the title text suggest, if the "falling star" were to land on you or any of your buildings you would gain some fame, both from immediate media coverage and long term on lists like this one.

If you have insurance you(or your heirs) would collect on the damages.(unless excluded by an "Act of God" clause) You could also sell your story to one or more media outlets. This wouldn't make you a billionaire, but would cover your rent for a while.
(and as noted by a previous comment, whatever pieces survived both Earth's atmosphere and the ground could be sold as novelties)  [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.163|162.158.74.163]] 14:17, 25 October 2020 (UTC)