Asteroid Almost Crashes into Earth

Okay, I’ll admit that is a sensationalistic title, but in astronomical terms, it is correct. According to the Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts, a research facility which part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and which claims the title of “the world’s principal detector of asteroids”, Apollo Asteroid 2004 XP14 passed within 268,873 miles (432,000 kilometers) from the Earth at 0425 GMT. That is a little more than the distance from the Earth to the Moon, but is still a close shave in the vastness of outer space.

The spokesman told AFP that near-Earth asteroids were once believed to be a rarity, but recent scientific and technological advances have allowed researchers to track asteroids that previously escaped detection.

“In a few years we’ve detected more than have ever been discovered in history,” Sudbury said.
Source: Yahoo

Posted by Jimmy Daniels Posted in: Astronomy No Comments » July 2006