Asteroid To Fly Closer To Earth Than The Moon!

Any time an asteroid flies near earth, we all get a little nervous. On October 4, astonomers in Hawaii discovered Asteroid 2012 TC4 and they calculated it would fly past the earth only 1/4 of the distance the moon is from earth. Here is the image they shot on October 4th ...

 

IMAGE CREDIT: Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project

 

 

At it's closest, the asteroid will be closer to us than the moon as it flies by! Most estimates put the asteroid at the size of a house or about 54 feet across. It will be at its closest to earth tonight at 2 am, but NASA says there is no chance it could hit earth. Now to the big question... Will you be able to see it with the naked eye? The answer is no, you would have to be a pretty talented astronomer to see it with a small telescope, but larger consumer telescopes should be able to spot the asteroid fly-by.

 

Interestingly enough, another asteroid named 2012 TV will fly by the earth on Sunday about 3/4 the distance to the moon. This space rock is about 100 feet wide, so it is larger than the pass-by tonight.

 

 

 

 

If you ever have any questions, please remember I can be reached on facebook easily! Just follow the link below to my facebook page and click "LIKE"!

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marc-Weinberg/171330336238674#!/pages/Marc-Weinberg/171330336238674

 

Comments

[April]

Will we be able to so the one on Sunday?

[Marc Weinberg]

April, I doubt it since it is only 40 feet larger and 3 times the distance further away from earth.

[Monica Dabney]

we are approaching the galactical rift and our solar system is at the outer part of the galaxy. Also located around the outer edge of the galaxy is a belt of asteroids. So it is not suprising that we are already starting to see them, but exciting none the less.

[Lora]

Something tells me more are coming!!!!!