Asteroid 2017 FD3 flew past Earth at 0.45 LD
Image credit: The green line indicates the object's apparent motion relative to the Earth, and the bright green marks are the object's location at approximately one hour intervals. The Moon's orbit is grey. The blue arrow points in the direction of Earth's motion and the yellow arrow points toward the Sun. Edit: TW
A newly discovered asteroid 2017 FD3 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.45 LD (~172 800 / 107 372 miles) from the surface on March 17, 2017, two days before it was discovered.
2017 FD3 has an estimated size between 7.8 and 17 m (25 – 55 feet) and it belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. It flew past Earth at 14:30 UTC at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 11.58 km/s.
This is the 10th known near-Earth asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year, according to data available at CNEOS on September 20, 2017.
[ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Physical Parameters | Close-Approach Data ]
2017 FD3 was first observed at Catalina Sky Survey on March 19, 2017.
References:
Asteroid 2017 FD3 at Minor Planet Center, CNEOS
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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