Closest Flyby of Large Asteroid to be Naked-Eye Visible

[indigobusiness]

Closest Flyby of Large Asteroid to be Naked-Eye Visible
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 04 February 2005
01:31 pm ET


An asteroid expected to fly past Earth in 2029 will be visible to the naked eye, scientists projected Thursday.

It's a once-in-a-millennium event. And you may want to buy plane tickets now, as the flyby will be visible only from Europe, Africa and western Asia.

There has been no event like this in modern history. Some people have seen dramatic fireballs created by small space rocks blazing through Earth's atmosphere. And two house-sized asteroids have made closer passes. But they were not visible without telescopes.

The 2029 event will be the closest brush by a good-sized asteroid known to occur. The rock will pass Earth inside the orbits of some satellites. No other asteroid has ever been clearly visible to the unaided eye.

The asteroid is roughly estimated to be a little more than 1,000 feet (320 meters) wide.

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/050204_2004_mn4.html

[theHandpuppet]

1. Let's just hope...

... someone got their calculations right or we could be in for deep doo-doo! :D

[htuttle]

2. Now was that in feet, or meters?

:o

[theHandpuppet]

3. Yep, we remember THAT last little mixup!

Time to get out the conversion charts! :)

[indigobusiness]

4. Yeah, and we'd best hope it doesn't bump something

in the meantime.

[HeeBGBz]

5. Sounds a little too close for comfort

I thought the 2029 event had some odds of hitting us?

I never was good at math. I hope someone is good at cypherin'