[meteorite-list] Tiny Asteroid Whizzes by Earth (2017 EA)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2017 17:58:39 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201703030158.v231wdjH008069_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news194.html

Tiny Asteroid Whizzes by Earth (2017 EA)
March 2, 2017
Paul Chodas
Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS)

A small near-Earth asteroid less than 3 meters (10 feet) across whizzed
safely past Earth today at a distance so close that it passed well inside
the ring of geosynchronous satellites. Designated 2017 EA, the asteroid
made its closest approach to Earth at 6:04 a.m. PST (9:04 a.m. EST / 14:04
UTC) at an altitude of only 14,500 kilometers (9000 miles) above the eastern
Pacific Ocean. At its closest point, this asteroid was 20 times closer
than the Moon; it then quickly moved into the daytime sky and can no longer
be observed by ground-based telescopes.

[Graphic]
Asteroid 2017 EA Close Approach to Earth on March 2, 2017 (D. Farnocchia,
NASA/JPL)

2017 EA was originally detected only 6 hours before closest approach by
astronomers at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey, near Tucson, Arizona.
It was observed by several other observatories before it passed into the
Earth's shadow just before closest approach.

[Animation]
Asteroid 2017 EA Close Approach to Earth on March 2, 2017 (R. Baalke,
NASA/JPL)

Even though 2017 EA was tracked for only a single day, its orbit is now
known quite accurately. Computations by CNEOS indicate that the asteroid
will not approach our planet this close again for at least a hundred years.

Asteroid 2017 EA Close Approach to Earth on March 2, 2017 (D. Farnocchia,
NASA/JPL)
Received on Thu 02 Mar 2017 08:58:39 PM PST