If you anticipated seeing stars this Valentine’s Day, you weren’t far off.
Asteroid 2012 DA14 is projected to pass “dangerously close” to earth Feb. 15 — potentially taking out some important communication satellites.
Discovered last year, the asteroid is half the length of a football field, weighs 130,000 metric tons and will pass Earth at a closer distance than the Moon at some 17,000 miles per hour. But astronomers, including HMNS’ own VP of Astronomy Carolyn Sumners, have put our stammering hearts to rest — sort of:
“Asteroids this size – the one we’re talking about for next week – can destroy a city, not a planet,” Sumners told MyFoxHouston.
Luckily, NASA says there’s no chance of impact. This year, the cosmic love’s on you.
Per http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroidflyby.html?rss=1
NASA statement on Russian meteor:
“According to NASA scientists, the trajectory of the Russian meteorite was significantly different than the trajectory of the asteroid 2012 DA14, making it a completely unrelated object. Information is still being collected about the Russian meteorite and analysis is preliminary at this point. In videos of the meteor, it is seen to pass from left to right in front of the rising sun, which means it was traveling from north to south. Asteroid DA14′s trajectory is in the opposite direction, from south to north.”