Two Large Asteroids Narrowly Miss Earth
The two objects were only identified at the weekend by the Nasa-funded Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona, during a routine sky scan. The second, called 2010 RF12, was roughly two-thirds the size of its big brother and estimated to pass within just 49,088 miles of Earth hours later. While they were visible to many amateur stargazers, space agency researchers said neither asteroid posed a risk to earth.
Experts, however, said the “double-whammy” served as a reminder of other potentially hazardous objects expected to narrowly miss Earth in coming years. Nasa estimates that asteroids smaller than 25 metres in diameter would burn up while entering the atmosphere and cause no damage. Scientists said while it was common to witness a single asteroid at such close range it was rare to see two make such close passes. Figures show about 50 million NEO’s (Near Earth Objects) pass by every day. But what made this event so significant was that the two asteroids passed so close to Earth on the same day within hours of each other.
