Part of the devastation in Tunguska, Siberia, in 1908 after a meteorite struck. The impact created a blast so powerful it leveled 1,200 square miles of forestYou almost certainly missed it – and luckily it missed you – but an asteroid has come within 8,700 miles of hitting the Earth. Astronomers spotted the object only 15 hours before its closest approach to our planet last Friday.Its orbit brought it 30 times nearer than the Moon, which is 250,000 miles away. Even had it been on collision course with us, the 23ft wide asteroid – known as 2009 VA – is unlikely to have made much of an impact because it would probably have all but burnt up in the atmosphere.
It was picked up by the Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona, then identified by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts as a near Earth object and plotted by experts at NASA. It was the third-closest approach on record for any asteroid that has failed to make it through our atmosphere.
Nasa scientists monitored a 100ft asteroid that passed 45,000 miles above our planet’s surface on March 2. An object of similar size hit Siberia in 1908, leveling 1,200 square miles of forest. By 2020, NASA aims to have detected most large asteroids and comets that approach the Earth.
Don’t panic! Although the asteroid passed within 9,000 miles of Earth it measured just 23ft across and wouldn’t have dented the surface
Part of the devastation in Tunguska, Siberia, in 1908 after a meteorite struck. The impact created a blast so powerful it leveled 1,200 square miles of forestThe path of the asteroid 2009 VA, which passed well within the Moon’s orbit last FridayAstronomers believe the object, called 2009 VA, would have almost completely burned up while entering Earth’s atmosphere, causing a brilliant fireball in the sky but no major damage to the surface.The asteroid was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on November 6, 2009. It was then identified by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts as a near Earth object.
