A asteroid of a size similar to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908 with the force of a thousand atomic bombs whizzed past the earth on Monday, astronomers said on Tuesday.2009 DD45, estimated to be between 21 and 47m across, raced by at 1344 GMT, the Planetary Society and astronomer's blogs reported. The gap was just 72,000 km, or a fifth of the distance between the earth and the moon and only twice the height of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, the website space.com said.The estimated size is similar to that of an asteroid or comet that exploded above Tunguska, Siberia, on June 30,1908, flattening 80 million trees in a swathe of more than 2,000 sq.km2009 DD45 was spotted last Saturday by astronomers at the Siding Spring Survey in Australia. It was verified by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre (MPC), which catalogues Solar System rocks.The closest flyby listed by the MPC is 2004 FU162, a small asteroid about 6m across which came within about 6,500km of the earth in March 2004.
The Hindu, 4th March 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment