Astronomers are tracking an asteroid about the size of an aircraft carrier that on Tuesday will pass by Earth, within the moon’s orbit, in the closest approach of such an object in a generation.
The 1,300-foot-wide asteroid, known as 2005 YU55, poses no hazard, experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.
They are monitoring the spinning space rock by radar as it nears and eventually speeds past Earth at a distance of 201,000 miles. The asteroid is going 29,000 miles per hour, according to astronomers at the University of Arizona.
It is the first time since 1976 that an asteroid has come so close to Earth, and the first time astronomers have ever had this much advance notice.
By astronomers’ calculations, the asteroid is expected to make its closest approach to Earth at 6:28 pm EST Tuesday. The asteroid is too dim to be seen with the naked eye and its gravity is too weak to affect tides or earthquake activity, said experts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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2 Responses
Should we wave at it?
there’s a nice animation on wikipedia showing where this thing will be near the Earth & the Moon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_YU55