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View Full Version : Asteroid to make close flyby of Earth on Saturday, tomorrow.



Dogman
8th March 2013, 05:17 AM
http://znn.india.com/Img/2013/3/8/flyi.jpg

Washington: An asteroid the size of a city block, will make its closest approach to Earth on Saturday, March 9th, less than 7 days after it was discovered, it has been revealed.

The asteroid dubbed NEO (near-Earth object) 2013 ET was discovered on March 3, 2013, by the Catalina Sky Survey.






The asteroid is estimated to be approximately 64-140 meters (210-460 feet) wide and will pass 2.5 times the Moon's distance from our planet. At its maximum brightness on March 9th, NEO 2013 ET will be at a relatively dim magnitude of 17 -- not bright enough to view through a backyard telescope, but should be reasonably bright through Slooh telescopes in the Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa.

The asteroid will be traveling across the sky with a relative velocity of 11.88 kilometers per second or 26,552 mph, which is about 15 times faster than a rifle bullet. If asteroid 2013 ET were to hit Earth, the damage would be significant-potentially destroying a small city.

Slooh Space Camera will cover its closest approach on Saturday, live on Slooh.com, free to the public, starting at 12:15 p.m. PST / 3:15 p.m. EST / 20:15 UTC-International times at http://goo.gl/kQJuL-accompanied by real-time discussions with Slooh president Patrick Paolucci, Slooh engineer Paul Cox, and documentary filmmaker Duncan Copp.

Viewers can watch live on their PC/MAC or iOS/Android mobile device.

"We only have a short viewing window of an hour or so from our Canary Islands observatory on March 9th, but we wanted to give the general public a front row seat to witness this new asteroid in real time as it passes by Earth," said Slooh president Patrick Paolucci.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/space/asteroid-to-make-close-flyby-of-earth-on-saturday_833935.html



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5ZOq9A4Tvg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5ZOq9A4Tvg


Seems like the neighborhood is getting crowded.

gunDriller
8th March 2013, 06:16 AM
Seems like the neighborhood is getting crowded.


yeah, i would expect 'them' (NASA) to do a better job.

asteroids of this size are perhaps not big enough to cause an Extinction event, but they are big enough to kill a few hundred million people, depending on where they hit.