Astronomers spotted an asteroid this week after it had flown past Earth on a course that took it so close to the planet it was below the orbits of some satellites.
The space rock was relatively small, however, and would not have posed any danger had it plunged into the atmosphere.
The object, named 2004 YD5, was about 16 feet (5 meters) wide, though that's a rough estimate based on its distance and assumed reflectivity. Had it entered the atmosphere, it would have exploded high up, experts figure.
[...]
On Sept. 29, the largest asteroid ever known to pass near Earth, named Toutatis, roamed by at about four times the distance to the Moon. Astronomers had known for years the flyby would occur, since
Toutatis is 2.9 miles (4.6 kilometers) long and had been in Earth's vicinity before.
But many near misses by small asteroids likely go unnoticed, astronomers say, because the entire sky is not continuously monitored. Such small asteroids have been detected only in recent years as more sophisticated telescopes have been hooked up with digital cameras.
And some asteroids come even closer, entering the atmosphere. Most never reach the ground because they break apart under the stress of entry. One study of data collected by
U.S. military satellites logged 300 in-air asteroid explosions.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...se_041222.html
. This is some scary sh*t and they don't tell us until its way gone. Heck, I just read this in my slashdot newsletter. Of course, it makes sense that they don't tell us-- don't want to drive us into panic .
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