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"Big asteroid to fly by Earth" on Monday, Jan. 26 (Asteroid 2004 BL86)



 
 
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Old January 24th 15, 03:31 AM posted to alt.astronomy
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Default "Big asteroid to fly by Earth" on Monday, Jan. 26 (Asteroid 2004 BL86)

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/22/us/ast...-by/index.html

"Big asteroid to fly by Earth Monday"
by Amanda Barnett, CNN

Updated Thu. January 22, 2015 5:22pm ET


(CNN)-A big asteroid will fly by Earth on Monday, but NASA says don't
worry -- we'll be safe. [1]

The asteroid is called 2004 BL86. It'll come about 745,000 miles (1.2
million kilometers) from Earth, or about three times as far away as the
moon.

You're wondering, doesn't this happen all the time? Yes and no. There are
lots of asteroids that pose a threat to Earth -- about 550 as of today. [2]
None are predicted to hit anytime soon.

But asteroid 2004 BL86 (yes, I too wish it had a catchier name) is big --
about a third of a mile (a half-kilometer) in size. It will be the closest
known asteroid this large to pass near Earth until 2027, that's when an
asteroid called 1999 AN10 flies by us.

"While it poses no threat to Earth for the foreseeable future, it's a
relatively close approach by a relatively large asteroid, so it provides us
a unique opportunity to observe and learn more," Don Yeomans, manager of
NASA's Near Earth Object Program Office [3] at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in Pasadena, California, said in a NASA press release. (On a side note for
space rock fans, Yeomans retired January 9 after 16 years of tracking
asteroids. Paul Chodas, has been designated as the new manager.)

This asteroid is also interesting because you might be able to see it with
strong binoculars or backyard telescopes. That's a rare opportunity for most
of us.

"I may grab my favorite binoculars and give it a shot myself," said Yeomans.
"Asteroids are something special. Not only did asteroids provide Earth with
the building blocks of life and much of its water, but in the future, they
will become valuable resources for mineral ores and other vital natural
resources. They will also become the fueling stops for humanity as we
continue to explore our solar system. There is something about asteroids
that makes me want to look up."

NASA scientists will snap radar-generated images using the Deep Space
Network antenna at Goldstone, California, and the Arecibo Observatory in
Puerto Rico.

If you don't have binoculars or a scope, you can watch from the comfort of
your computer on The Virtual Telescope Project 2.0. [4]

The asteroid was discovered on January 30, 2004, by a telescope of the
Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) survey in White Sands, New
Mexico.

Want to know more about asteroids? Check out NASA's asteroid watch program
[5] or follow it on Twitter. [6]


[1] http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4441

[2] http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk

[3] http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov

[4]
http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2014/...nt-26-jan-2015

[5] http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch

[6] http://twitter.com/asteroidwatch


 




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