A giant asteroid is due to zoom by Earth and scientists plan to probe it with radar beams
Giant 'Potentially Hazardous' Asteroid Will Whiz By Earth So Close We Can See Inside It
On February 4, an asteroid called 2002 AJ129 is due to slip past Earth. It is between 1600 and 4000 feet across, according to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies, but there's no chance it will make impact—NASA has calculated it will remain 2.6 million miles away.
That still makes it what astronomers call a "potentially hazardous asteroid," thanks to its size being more than about 500 feet across and an orbital path that carries it within about 4,650,000 miles of Earth.
But while they're confident we won't all go the way of the dinosaurs, scientists do want to keep an eye on the space rock—and they'll do so with the Goldstone Radio Telescope in California. That is one of the U.S.'s two high-powered radar astronomy facilities, along with the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico.
Full story at site
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My question is: was the meteor that hit Michigan a part of this incoming asteroid? Every time we have a big one come by, what they call "pushers" seem to appear before it.
Giant 'Potentially Hazardous' Asteroid Will Whiz By Earth So Close We Can See Inside It
On February 4, an asteroid called 2002 AJ129 is due to slip past Earth. It is between 1600 and 4000 feet across, according to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies, but there's no chance it will make impact—NASA has calculated it will remain 2.6 million miles away.
That still makes it what astronomers call a "potentially hazardous asteroid," thanks to its size being more than about 500 feet across and an orbital path that carries it within about 4,650,000 miles of Earth.
But while they're confident we won't all go the way of the dinosaurs, scientists do want to keep an eye on the space rock—and they'll do so with the Goldstone Radio Telescope in California. That is one of the U.S.'s two high-powered radar astronomy facilities, along with the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico.
Full story at site
___________________________
My question is: was the meteor that hit Michigan a part of this incoming asteroid? Every time we have a big one come by, what they call "pushers" seem to appear before it.