Space & Astronomy

Large asteroid narrowly misses the Earth

By T.K. Randall
April 17, 2018 ·  13 comments

Potentially deadly asteroids can show up with very little warning. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Known as Asteroid 2018 GE3, the space rock was several times larger than the meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, which caused widespread disruption and injuries back in 2013.

Worryingly, it was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey and Steward Observatory in Arizona mere hours before it passed us by at around half the distance between the Earth and the Moon.At up to 400ft across, the object is much larger than the asteroids that typically pass within this distance and is among the largest to have ventured this close to our planet in recent memory.

Its discovery highlights just how vulnerable we still are to unexpected asteroid strikes.

Asteroid 2018 GE3 flew past us today, half the distance to the Moon. Around 50-100 m in diameter, it was several times the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, around the size of the 1908 Tunguska event ~ easily enough to destroy a city. We had less than a day's warning. (📷 Michael Jäger) pic.twitter.com/kElrxBiUoB

— Andrew Rader (@marsrader) April 16, 2018

Source: CNET.com | Comments (13)

Tags: Asteroid, Earth