Asteroid to Streak by, Close to Earth

First posted on 01-25-2008

An asteroid estimated to be between 500 and 2,000 feet long will make a close pass by the Earth on Tuesday of next week.

Scientists assure the world that there is no chance of impact.

The asteroid, known as 2007 TU24, is expected to pass within 334,000 miles of Earth, or about 1.4 times the distance between the Earth and the moon.

Officials at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said the encounter should be bright enough for medium sized telescopes to get a look. They also reiterated that the asteroid has no chance of hitting or otherwise affecting the Earth.

Scientists will be pointing California’s Goldstone radar telescope and the Arecibo radar telescope in Puerto Rico toward the asteroid in an effort to observe its path as it whizzes by Earth.

2007 TU24 was first observed last October. It will be 2027 before an asteroid of similar size will buzz the planet.

Diagram courtesy of NASA: