From: Walter Watts (wlwatts@cox.net)
Date: Thu Mar 21 2002 - 12:43:34 MST
This story from my Excite homepage has no news agency reference. Has
anyone read the same info from a credible news agency?
Walter
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Asteroid Passes Near Earth
03/20/2002 2:59 PM EST
An asteroid large enough to demolish a city the size of Orlando passed
within 288,000 miles of Earth without being noticed by astronomers until
four days later.
The asteroid, about 165 feet across, came from the direction of the sun,
making it difficult for astronomers to spot. It passed by Earth on March
8, but wasn't seen until March 12 as it hurtled away.
Gareth Williams of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet
Center in Cambridge, Mass., helped spot the asteroid after it passed by.
It was a close call in space terms. The moon is only 250,000 miles away.
"The key is to detect these objects before they come out of the (sun's
direction)," Williams said.
That way, astronomers can quickly determine an asteroid's orbit and
predict whether it will hit the Earth.
A similar-sized object flattened a 20-mile-wide patch of Siberian forest
in
1908.
-- Walter Watts Tulsa Network Solutions, Inc. "To err is human. To really screw things up requires a bare-naked command line and a wildcard operator."
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