Earth’s close call
Owen Gethings
As far as close shaves go, this Friday the 15th
the Earth will be sailing pretty close to the wind. The small Near Earth
asteroid, 2012 DA14 is currently hurtling towards us at 25,791mph (or
11.53km/second) and will pass Earth at a distance of 17,200 miles. That doesn’t
seem very close but let me put that into perspective. The asteroid will pass
within the ring of geosynchronous communication and weather satellites
currently orbiting at 22,200 miles above the equator. Although NASA’s NEO
program, that currently monitors around 9697 Near Earth Objects, with 961 of
these being larger than 1km, say the asteroid will not hit us, it does give
researchers an opportunity to study the large object. The asteroid will be
visible through binoculars, albeit a very faint spec of light crossing the sky.
The asteroid will be visible in the constellation leo, travelling towards the
plough at around 7:30pm UK time.
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| The trajectory of DA14 |
As far as close shaves go, this Friday the 15th
the Earth will be sailing pretty close to the wind. The small Near Earth
asteroid, 2012 DA14 is currently hurtling towards us at 25,791mph (or
11.53km/second) and will pass Earth at a distance of 17,200 miles. That doesn’t
seem very close but let me put that into perspective. The asteroid will pass
within the ring of geosynchronous communication and weather satellites
currently orbiting at 22,200 miles above the equator. Although NASA’s NEO
program, that currently monitors around 9697 Near Earth Objects, with 961 of
these being larger than 1km, say the asteroid will not hit us, it does give
researchers an opportunity to study the large object. The asteroid will be
visible through binoculars, albeit a very faint spec of light crossing the sky.
The asteroid will be visible in the constellation leo, travelling towards the
plough at around 7:30pm UK time.