Giant asteroid safely sails past Earth
US: A huge asteroid sailed safely past Earth Friday afternoon,
making its closest approach to our planet for at least the next two
centuries. Asteroid 1998 QE2, which is about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometres)
wide, cruised within 3.6 million miles (5.8 million km) of Earth at 4:59
p.m. EDT (2059 GMT) on Friday, then slipped silently off into the depths
of space once again.
There was no chance the 1.7-mile-wide 1998 QE2 would hit us,
researchers say. That’s a good thing, because a strike by such a big
space rock would cause catastrophic damage, potentially wiping out our
species. [Potentially Dangerous Asteroids (Images)]
‘Asteroids of this size have changed the biosphere of our planet in
the past.’
In general, scientists think any asteroid bigger than 0.6 miles could
end human civilization if it hit us. For comparison, the object that
killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago is thought to have been
about 6 miles wide.
Asteroid 1998 QE2 would not have put on a show for skywatchers. At
its closest pass, the space rock will still be 100 times fainter than
the dimmest star visible to naked-eye observers under clear and dark
skies, experts say. But several different organizations, including the
Slooh Space Telescope and the Virtual Telescope Project, broadcast live
views of the near-Earth asteroid’s close approach from
professional-quality observatories around the world.
“It will be fun to actually watch it change position,” Astronomy
magazine columnist Bob Berman, who participated in Slooh’s show, said in
a statement. “As Slooh’s Space Cameras image it directly [Friday]
afternoon, we will all be reminded that asteroids of this size have
changed the biosphere of our planet in the past, and even set the stage
for the present dominion of humans.”
Scientists are already watching 1998 QE2 closely, in an attempt to
learn more about the asteroid’s characteristics and orbit. A team of
radio astronomers using NASA’s Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone,
Calif., for example, just learned that the asteroid is actually a binary
system, with a 2,000-foot-wide moon circling the larger space rock.
Researchers plan to use the Goldstone facility as well as the huge
Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to watch 1998 QE2 through June 9,
NASA officials said.
FOX NEWS |
