Earth’s near-miss with two asteroids
The Earth was almost hit by two asteroids around 6:00 am Eastern time Wednesday. No, the asteroids were not like the ones that may have killed the dinosaurs or the one in the movie Armageddon, but they did narrowly miss the Earth. This news may shock some people because it shows we Earthlings may be more susceptible to meteorites, but actually, there’s nothing to worry about (well, almost nothing).
The asteroids that passed by Wednesday were around 50 feet wide; they would have burned up in Earth’s atmosphere before ever reaching the ground. Also, when scientists say the asteroids “narrowly” missed the earth, they actually mean the asteroids flew by the Earth around 50,000 miles away, just under ten times the distance from Dublin to San Francisco. The asteroids are moving pretty quickly, from 13,000 mph to 22,000 mph, which is like rocket speed.
Asteroids of this size are pretty common but hard for scientists to track; they often pass between the Earth and the Moon every day without being detected. If there was an asteroid of cataclysmic size heading towards us, it would definitely be detected. Now when there’s a lull in the conversation tonight, spring this gem on your friends and don’t be afraid to segue and brag about the time you got the high score on Asteroids at the local arcade in ’84 and demonstrated your maturity by inputting your actual initials rather than the typical A-S-S.
Read on:
msnbc.com – Asteroid near-misses actually common, scientists say
boston.com – Harvard scientists keep an eye on wayward asteroids
ABC News – Duck! Two Asteroids Pass Closer than Moon
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