Two asteroids to pass closely by Earth today
By ANIWednesday, September 8, 2010
WASHINGTON - Two asteroids are expected to pass by the Earth on Sept 8 at the same distance as the moon from our planet.
NASA scientists are available for live satellite interviews Wednesday morning, Sept. 8, to discuss these near-Earth objects.
These objects will be visible near closest approach with moderate-sized amateur telescope, but neither has a chance of hitting the earth.
Asteroid 2010 RX30 is estimated to be 32 to 65 feet and will pass within 248,000 kilometres of Earth at 2:51 a.m. The second object, 2010 RF12, estimated to be 20-46 feet in size, will pass within 79,000 kilometres at 2:12 p.m.
A 10-meter-sized near-Earth asteroid from the undiscovered population of about 50 million would be expected to pass almost daily within a lunar distance, and one might strike Earth’s atmosphere about every 10 years on average.
The Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Ariz., discovered both objects on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 5, during their routine monitoring of the skies.
The Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., first received the observations Sunday morning, determined preliminary orbits and concluded that both objects would pass within the distance of the Moon about three days after their discovery. (ANI)
