Large asteroid, with moon in tow, flies by Earth
Asteroid sized 2.7 km in diameter passes a mere 5.8 million km from Earth, a close shave in astronomical standards; 'No threat to planet,' says White House
A large asteroid accompanied by its own small moon was approaching Earth on Friday, the latest in a string of celestial visitors drawing attention to the potential dangers of objects in space.
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Asteroid 1998 QE2 is about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) in diameter, far bigger than the small asteroid that blasted through the skies over Chelyabinsk, Russia, on February 15, leaving more than 1,500 people injured by flying glass and debris.
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That same day another asteroid, about 150 feet (45 meters) in diameter, passed about 17,200 miles (27,700 km) from Earth - closer than the networks of communication satellites that ring the planet.
Radar images of the asteroid, with white-dot moon (Photo; AFP)
Asteroid's course through solar system (Photo: AFP)
At its closest approach, which occured at 4:59 pm EDT (2059 GMT, 23:59 Israel time), asteroid 1998 QE2 was about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million km) from Earth, which is roughly 15 times farther away than Earth's moon.
"For an asteroid of this size, it's a close shave," said Paul Chodas, a scientist with NASA's Near Earth Object program office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
NASA is tracking 95 percent of the large asteroids with orbits that come relatively close to Earth. The US space agency, as well as Russia, Europe and others, plans to beef up asteroid detection efforts to find smaller objects that could still do considerable damage if they hit a populated area.
Scientists used radar to get a preview of the asteroid on Wednesday and discovered it had a small moon in tow.
"It was quite a surprise," Marina Brozovic, a radar scientist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a NASA TV interview.
After its pass around the sun, QE2 will head back toward the outer asteroid belt on an orbit that extends nearly to Jupiter.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest was asked about the asteroid during a briefing. He says scientists have concluded the asteroid "poses no threat to planet Earth."
He added, to laughter, "I never really thought I'd be standing up here saying that."
Reuters, AP contributed to this report
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