| The asteroid will brush
past our planet within the orbit
of the Moon coming as close as the orbit of many satellites. It
should be visible through binoculars
from parts of Europe, Asia and most of the Southern Hemisphere as
a faint star-like object moving slowly
across the sky. The asteroid was spotted
on Monday during an automated survey by a pair of NASA telescopes.
Similar-sized objects are believed to pass close to the Earth
every two years or so but aren't normally detected in advance.
NASA says there's no danger of this asteroid hitting the planet.
And even if it did, at 30 metres across, it would probably break
up in the atmosphere and only small pieces would reach the ground.
It's a reminder, nevertheless,
of the risks of near-Earth objects -- there are believed to be
more than a thousand asteroids with the potential
to collide with the planet at
some point in the future.
|
|
|
|
brush past: to pass very close to
something, almost touching it
orbit: the curved path an object
follows when it goes around a moon, a planet or the sun
visible: it can be seen
faint: not very bright or clear
star-like: similar to a star
spotted: seen, noticed
a reminder: something that makes
you think of something else
potential: ability
collide with: hit, crash into
at some point in the future:
any time in the future
|
