Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Chronicling the close calls


They're out there -- and it only takes one to ruin a planet's day.

'Tunguska'-Size Asteroid Makes Surprise Flyby of Earth
"The asteroid, designated 2018 GE3, made its closest approach to Earth at around 2:41 a.m. EDT (0641 GMT), whizzing by at a distance of 119,400 miles (192,000 kilometers), or about half the average distance between Earth and the moon, according to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS)."
According to the article, the estimated size means that if it encountered Earth, it would cause regional, but not global, damage.  Which is fine unless your region is Ground Zero for the space rock.

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