http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2085
Asteroid to Fly By Earth Wednesday
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
March 17, 2009
PASADENA, Calif. -
A small asteroid will fly past Earth early tomorrow morning (Wed., March 18). The asteroid, 2009 FH, is about 50 feet (15meters) wide. Its closest approach to Earth will occur at 5:17 a.m. PDT(8:17 a.m. EDT, 12:17 UTC) at an altitude of about 49,000 miles (79,000kilometers)."This asteroid flyby will be a good viewing opportunity for both professional and amateur astronomers," said Don Yeomans of the Near-Earth Object Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The asteroid poses no risk of impact to Earth now or for the foreseeable future."NASA detects and tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth. The Near Earth Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard,"plots the orbits of these objects to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet.For more information, visit: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/
Media contact: DC Agle/JPL 818-393-9011
Showing posts with label asteroid 2009 FH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asteroid 2009 FH. Show all posts
17 March 2009
ASTEROID BUZZES EARTH 17MAR09
Space Weather News for March 17, 2009
http://spaceweather.com
ASTEROID BUZZES EARTH: Newly-discovered asteroid 2009 FH is flying past Earth tonight only 85,000 km (0.00057 AU) away. That's a little more than twice the height of a geosynchronous communications satellite. Experienced amateur astronomers in North America can photograph the 20-meter-wide space rock racing through the constellation Gemini after sunset on March 17th. It should be about as bright as a 14th magnitude star.
Please visit http://spaceweather.com for an ephemeris and updates.
This is the second time in March that an asteroid has flown so close to Earth. On March 2nd, 2009 DD45 passed by only 72,000 km away. Measuring some tens of meters in diameter, 2009 DD45 and 2009 FH are approximately Tunguska-class objects, meaning they pose no global threat but could cause local damage if they actually hit Earth. In years past, asteroids of this size often passed unnoticed, but recent improvements in asteroid surveys have resulted in growing numbers of space rocks caught in the act of near-Earth flybys.
http://spaceweather.com
ASTEROID BUZZES EARTH: Newly-discovered asteroid 2009 FH is flying past Earth tonight only 85,000 km (0.00057 AU) away. That's a little more than twice the height of a geosynchronous communications satellite. Experienced amateur astronomers in North America can photograph the 20-meter-wide space rock racing through the constellation Gemini after sunset on March 17th. It should be about as bright as a 14th magnitude star.
Please visit http://spaceweather.com for an ephemeris and updates.
This is the second time in March that an asteroid has flown so close to Earth. On March 2nd, 2009 DD45 passed by only 72,000 km away. Measuring some tens of meters in diameter, 2009 DD45 and 2009 FH are approximately Tunguska-class objects, meaning they pose no global threat but could cause local damage if they actually hit Earth. In years past, asteroids of this size often passed unnoticed, but recent improvements in asteroid surveys have resulted in growing numbers of space rocks caught in the act of near-Earth flybys.
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