Astroid zooms past Earth
- 13 years ago
Rough cut (No reporter narration).
A black asteroid as big as an aircraft carrier zoomed past Earth on Tuesday (November 8), delighting astronomers who trained telescopes on the ancient body in hopes of learning more about its composition and origin.
With a diameter estimated at 400 metres, or about a quarter of a mile, Asteroid 2005 YU 55 is the biggest asteroid to make a close pass by Earth since 1976.
During its closest approach, which occurred at 6:28 p.m. EST (2328 GMT), it was inside the orbit of the moon, about 200,000 miles (322,000 km) above the planet. It posed no threat to either.
Thousands of professional and amateur astronomers were tracking the asteroid with telescopes, seeking to learn more about what it is made of, how fast it spins and ultimately, where it came from.
It's the size of an aircraft carrier and not visible to the naked eye.
The asteroid, however, was moving at about 30,000 mph (48.000 kph).
Astronomers believe YU 55 has been visiting Earth for thousands of years, nudged out of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter after a gravitational elbowing by Jupiter.
Computer models simulating the asteroid's path for the next 100 years show there is no chance it will hit Earth or the moon during that time, a NASA spokesman told Reuters.
Astronomers do not expect it will be a threat beyond that time either but have not run the models beyond 100 years.
Asteroids are of interest to scientists trying to piece together how the solar system formed.
YU 55 is believed to be one of the more common type, carbon-rich asteroids, albeit a large one. Its ancient rocks may contain water, metals and other materials that could be useful for space explorers.
A black asteroid as big as an aircraft carrier zoomed past Earth on Tuesday (November 8), delighting astronomers who trained telescopes on the ancient body in hopes of learning more about its composition and origin.
With a diameter estimated at 400 metres, or about a quarter of a mile, Asteroid 2005 YU 55 is the biggest asteroid to make a close pass by Earth since 1976.
During its closest approach, which occurred at 6:28 p.m. EST (2328 GMT), it was inside the orbit of the moon, about 200,000 miles (322,000 km) above the planet. It posed no threat to either.
Thousands of professional and amateur astronomers were tracking the asteroid with telescopes, seeking to learn more about what it is made of, how fast it spins and ultimately, where it came from.
It's the size of an aircraft carrier and not visible to the naked eye.
The asteroid, however, was moving at about 30,000 mph (48.000 kph).
Astronomers believe YU 55 has been visiting Earth for thousands of years, nudged out of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter after a gravitational elbowing by Jupiter.
Computer models simulating the asteroid's path for the next 100 years show there is no chance it will hit Earth or the moon during that time, a NASA spokesman told Reuters.
Astronomers do not expect it will be a threat beyond that time either but have not run the models beyond 100 years.
Asteroids are of interest to scientists trying to piece together how the solar system formed.
YU 55 is believed to be one of the more common type, carbon-rich asteroids, albeit a large one. Its ancient rocks may contain water, metals and other materials that could be useful for space explorers.