This Friday’s Close Shave by Asteroid

Everything You Need to Know About This Friday’s Close Shave by Asteroid 2012 DA14

By Phil Plait

|

Posted Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, at 8:00 AM ET

On Friday, Feb. 15, the Earth is going to get a very close shave by an asteroid^*. Called 2012 DA14, this 50 meter (160 foot) rock will pass just over 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) from the Earth’s surface. This is closer than our geosynchronous satellites, so this really is a close pass!

But, to be very clear: This asteroid poses no threat to us right now, nor in the foreseeable future. Friday’s miss is just that: a miss. And, in fact, this is a good thing, since any time an asteroid gets close (but misses), we learn a lot, including how to find them, how to track them, and even how to talk about them to the public.

Click here to see the whole story about this