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posted by martyb on Thursday August 20 2020, @12:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the Chelyabinsk-wannabe dept.

Astronomers spot closest Earth-buzzing asteroid ever recorded :

Astronomers have identified an asteroid that's just made the closest pass to Earth ever recorded – and it was only spotted after it had passed. The object skimmed Earth's atmosphere over the weekend, close enough to have its orbit changed by the planet's gravity.

On August 16, an asteroid designated 2020 QG whizzed past our planet at a distance of only 2,950 km (1,830 mi) above the surface. That's well within the altitude of many satellites, and almost twice as close as the previous record-holder, an asteroid called 2011 CQ1. Of course, this record is about the closest pass to Earth, and doesn't include objects that have impacted the planet.

That said, even if it had hit, asteroid 2020 QG wouldn't have caused any damage. It measures about 3 to 6 m (10 to 20 ft) wide, meaning it would have just burned up in the atmosphere.

Also at phys.org and JPL.

Perhaps the Monolith was doing a fly-by.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @05:09PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @05:09PM (#1039446)

    Even n maths (or in logc anyway) it makes sense: half is twice as small a one, because it is 1/2, the other is only 1/1.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @05:11PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @05:11PM (#1039449)

    N==in ; logc==logic