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Surprise Asteroid Makes Near-Miss of Earth
By Dr. Mark D. Nispel | March 2, 2009
200 feet wide - discovered only days ago - and a near miss
The 35-meter-wide space rock is similar in size to the Tunguska impactor of 1908 [1]
Surprise Asteroid Makes Near-Miss of Earth Wait! Did you hear that whooshing sound? A small asteroid buzzed by Earth Monday, though only real astronomy geeks in the Pacific would have noticed. The rock, estimated to be no more than 200 feet wide, zoomed past our planet at an altitude of 40,000 miles at 1:44 p.m. universal time — or 8:44 EST. Dubbed 2009 DD45, it was discovered only on Friday by Australian astronomers. Forty thousand miles may sound like a lot, but it’s only about one-seventh of the way to the moon, and less than twice as far out as many telecommunications satellites. m.
1. www.spaceweather.com
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Topics: meteors |
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