Volunteer Spots Asteroid With Path Near Earth’s
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A volunteer who analyzes online images for the University of Arizona Spacewatch Project spotted a 60- to 120-foot diameter asteroid that came within 1.2 million miles of Earth on Thursday. Reviewing an image taken by astronomer Miwa Block, volunteer Stu Megan spotted the asteroid’s light trail Tuesday, and the astronomers took more pictures to confirm its orbit.
The newly observed object is too small to pose a problem. Had it hit the atmosphere, the asteroid would have created only a flash of light in the upper region.
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