The Flyby Clock: Visualizing a century of asteroid encounters

The Flyby Clock: Visualizing a century of asteroid encounters

Due to the interest sparked by the upcoming flyby of 2012 DA14, Alex Parker of Minor Planet Center thought it would be helpful to place its flyby in a historic perspective. He put together a visualization of all the flybys of known asteroids in the 21st century in…

Record-setting flyby of Asteroid 2012 DA14 set for February 15, 2013

Record-setting flyby of Asteroid 2012 DA14 set for February 15, 2013

The Earth expects record-setting close flyby on February 15, 2013, when a chunk of space rock about 50 meters wide, designated as asteroid 2012 DA14 flies near our planet at a speed of about 7.8 km/s in a south-to-north direction with respect to the Earth. This…

Comet Lemmon greens up in southern hemisphere's nightsky

Comet Lemmon greens up in southern hemisphere's nightsky

Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6) is visiting  the inner solar system after almost 11,000 years. Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6) is visible from the southern hemisphere at distance about 92 million miles (0.99 AU) from Earth. Northern hemisphere observers will get their

ESA mulling over an ‘Asteroid deflection mission’, seeks ideas

ESA mulling over an ‘Asteroid deflection mission’, seeks ideas

The thought of asteroid impact on Earth is intimidating – one that’s connected with catastrophic devastation in past and have always been a hot topic for fictional stories. Though space agencies are continuously watching the sky in search of potential future impact

Potentially hazardous Asteroid Apophis close flyby tonight

Potentially hazardous Asteroid Apophis close flyby tonight

ESA officials announced that its infrared Herschel Space Observatory has discovered that Apophis is about 325 meters (1,066 feet) wide, nearly 20 percent larger than a previous estimate of 270 m (885 feet). A 2004 study that predicted a 2.7 percent chance of

Close flyby of 40m-wide Asteroid 2012 TV

Close flyby of 40m-wide Asteroid 2012 TV

M.P.E.C. reported the discovery of the Asteroid 2012 TV on October 6, 2012. Asteroid was  magnitude 17.6 when was discovered by team from Tenagra II Observatory.According to Remanzacco Observatory, Asteroid 2012 TV has an estimated size of 24 m – 55 m (H=25.1).

PHA asteroid 2012 QE50 close encounter: October 8/9, 2012

PHA asteroid 2012 QE50 close encounter: October 8/9, 2012

The potentially hazardous asteroid 2012 QE50, discovered on 28 Aug. 2012 by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, will approach our planet with a minimum distance of 31.5 lunar distances (13 millions of km) on October 9, 2012. There is no serious threat for our

PHA asteroids 2012 QG42 and 2012 QC8 to flyby Earth on September 14

PHA asteroids 2012 QG42 and 2012 QC8 to flyby Earth on September 14

On September 14, 2012 a pair of asteroids will make close flyby near the Earth and Moon. A 300-meter space rock 2012 QG42 comes from the inner asteroid belt and it will pass 2.8 million km (7.4 lunar distances) from Earth. 1.1 km in diameter 2012 QC8 is coming from…