Forums

Next Friday, February 15th, an asteroid around 45 meters in diameter will zip by our planet - inside the orbit of satellites in geosynchronous orbit. That's right - the asteroid will be closer to Earth than our communication satellites. Geosynchronous orbit is around 22,000 miles above Earth's surface. The asteroid - 2012 DA14 - will pass by the planet at an altitude of about 17,000 miles. It is fortunate that this object will not hit Earth. In 1908, a similar sized object exploded over Siberia, flattening forests over an area of 750 square miles. A NASA resource on impacts is available - Exploring Meteorite Mysteries http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/Exploring_Meteorite_Mysteries.pdf

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Cris. It will be interesting to see what the news media has to say about this next week. Carolyn

what a shame i missed this :( i did however see a ball of green fire of some sort in the sky, falling and left a yellowish white trail for a split second a few days after the meteor in russia hit. i saw it on friday i believe.