Thought I should warn you all that on Feb 15 an asteroid is going to do a near miss of our planet. This lump of rock, weighing a mere 130,000 tons and currently circling the sun at 18,000 mph, is expected to pass by the earth at a similar orbit to that used by many communication satellites so don't be surprised if your TV reception suffers a blip. Just in case the experts have got their figures wrong, it was nice knowing you all :p Ron
The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive. There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation. W. C. Fields
thanks Ron Discovered by the LaSagra observatory in southern Spain, the small asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass within about 3.5 Earth radii of the Earth's surface on February 15, 2013. Although its size is not well determined, this near-Earth asteroid is thought to be about 45 meters in diameter. Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass inside the geosynchronous satellite ring, located about 35,800 km above the equator. Its orbit about the sun can bring it no closer to the Earth's surface than 3.2 Earth radii on February 15, 2013. On this date, the asteroid will travel rapidly from the southern evening sky into the northern morning sky with its closest Earth approach occurring about 19:26 UTC when it will achieve a magnitude of less than seven, which is somewhat fainter than naked eye visibility. About 4 minutes after its Earth close approach, there is a good chance it will pass into the Earth's shadow for about 18 minutes or so before reappearing from the eclipse. When traveling rapidly into the northern morning sky, 2012 DA14 will quickly fade in brightness. Near-Earth Asteroid 2012 DA14 to Miss Earth on February 15, 2013
Clive The Times article quotes it as being much bigger http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/astronomy/article3677097.ece Ron
