Asteroid Misses Earth in 'Closest Encounter'
Daily Mirror
As asteroids go it was only a tiddler...but it was certainly a close encounter.
The 100-foot wide space rock flew by Earth last night - the closest ever brush on record.
Asteroid 2004 FH was just 26,500 miles away, well within the Moon's orbit.
It streaked over the Atlantic at eight minutes past ten last night and sparked a frenzy among astronomers desperate to get a close look.
As it approached, NASA expert Paul Chodas promised: "It's a guaranteed miss."
Similar sized asteroids are believed to come as close to Earth on average once every two years but until now have always escaped detection.
Astronomer Steve Chesley said: "The important thing is not that it's happening but that we detected it.
"It immediately became clear it would pass very close by the Earth."
The asteroid was found during a routine survey carried out with a pair of telescopes in New Mexico funded by NASA.
Astronomers have not ruled out that the asteroid and our planet could meet again some time in the future but if the two were to collide, the asteroid would disintegrate in the atmosphere.
IN 1908 a meteorite three times the size of 2004 FH exploded above remotest Siberia with the energy of a 10 megaton nuclear blast. It devastated an area 50 miles in diameter even though it never hit the ground.
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