Arecibo Tracks Potentially Dangerous Asteroid
A near-Earth asteroid named 2005 YU55 -- on the list of potentially dangerous asteroids -- was observed by the Arecibo telescope April 19, 2010 as it passed about 1.5 million miles from the Earth (about six times the distance to the moon). Arecibo radar imaging of 2005 YU55 showed that the asteroid is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in size -- about a quarter-mile long -- and twice as large as previously estimated.
Comments:
Just curious.
<br>Mike:<br><br>The short answer is Yes.<br><br>Any asteroid that comes within ten or so times the distance to the moon would easily be on the watch list.<br><br>Take the asteroid that was discussed in this news item. It was six times the distance to the moon and it clearly was an item of interest.<br><br>For a really scary story read this news item from last year:<br><br>http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=915<br><br>That one passed within 38,000 miles of the Earth's surface, which is just one fifth of the distance from the Earth to the moon. The scary part -- No one saw it coming until two days before it buzzed by.<br><br>Guy Pirro<br><br><br><blockquote class="blockquote"><div class="italic"><i>Mike Carney said:</i><br><br>Just curious.</div></blockquote>
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