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Asteroid to Fly By Earth Feb. 15

Asteroid 2012 DA14, NASA says, will be about 17,200 miles from Earth.

 

An asteroid that is about 150 feet in diameter is expected to fly by Earth early Friday afternoon.

While NASA says there's no chance that asteroid 2012 DA14 will hit Earth, the asteroid is expected to pass between Earth and its ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites.

"The flyby of asteroid 2012 DA14 is the closest ever predicted Earth approach for an object this large," according to the NASA website. "Scientists at NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office in Pasadena, CA, estimate that an asteroid the size of 2012 DA14 flies this close every 40 years on average and that one will impact Earth, on average, about once in every 1,200 years."

At its closest approach, asteroid 2012 DA14 will be about 17,200 miles from Earth, NASA says.

The asteroid is expected to fly by Earth at about 1:24 p.m. Central time, according to the Adler Planetarium.

NASA notes that the asteroid will be too dim to be seen with the naked eye. It will be best seen from parts of Europe, Africa and Asia.

NASA Television will start its broadcast about the asteroid at 1 p.m. Feb. 15. It'll also be streamed online at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2.

About this column: Patch Editor Korrina Grom has her eyes on the skies. Tornado watch? Winter storm warning? Wind advisory? She'll keep you informed! Related Topics: Asteroid, Asteroid 2012 DA14, and NASA

McCloud

4:11 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013

Get Al up off the massage table, those green house gasses are attracting asteroids now.

Reply

Just Sayin

5:56 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013

McClown...Actually...the asteroid is being drawn in by the loud sucking sound coming from the void you call your brain!

Reply

Adam Turetzky

11:34 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013

Could this be related to what's happening in the Russian Urals right now? http://rt.com/news/meteorite-crash-urals-chelyabinsk-283/

Reply

Susan Donian

10:37 am on Friday, February 15, 2013

Adam Turetzky, great link, thank you, almost hard to think that it is not related!

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