NEO Near Miss Forum: SSI-List
Thread: NEO Near Miss
# 16447 byking_rodent on March 21, 2002, 10:36 p.m.
Member since 2022-08-22
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Asteroid Passes Near Earth
Wed Mar 20, 3:00 PM ET
size of Orlando passed within 288,000 miles of Earth without being
noticed by astronomers until four days later.
The asteroid, about 165 feet across, came from the direction of the
sun, making it difficult for astronomers to spot. It passed by Earth
on March 8, but wasn't seen until March 12 as it hurtled away.
Gareth Williams of the International Astronomical Union's Minor
Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., helped spot the asteroid after it
passed by. It was a close call in space terms. The moon is only
250,000 miles away.
"The key is to detect these objects before they come out of the
(sun's direction)," Williams said.
That way, astronomers can quickly determine an asteroid's orbit and
predict whether it will hit the Earth.
A similar-sized object flattened a 20-mile-wide patch of Siberian
forest in 1908.