BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Here comes an asteroid

A small asteroid designated 2012 TC4 will pass "close" to the Earth, closer to us than the Moon is, – on October 12. But "close" for astronomers isn't quite what other people think of as close. It certainly won't come close to hitting us.

Here is an animation showing the approximate path of 2012 TC4.

It will be closest to us at about 05:42 UTC. UTC is the same as Greenwich Mean Time.

Asteroid 2012 TC4 will pass by Earth just above the level where satellites orbit, but neither Earth nor its satellites are in danger. As it loops around the Sun it's expected to return in 2050 where it will also not hit the Earth. BUT it might be close enough then to change its orbit slightly, perhaps enough to be a danger in 2079.

The asteroid is described as "house-sized". It's about the same size as the one that exploded in 2013 over Chelyabinsk. The shockwaves caused considerable damage and injuries, mostly from the flying glass from broken windows.

Mona, what do you think of today's asteroid pass by just 26,000 miles above earth?

2012 TC4 provided a chance to do some testing on the International Asteroid Warning Network. It tends to be difficult to track asteroids and plot their orbits, especially when there may be changes in orbit as they're affected by the gravity of larger objects.

The warning network, which extends around the globe, observed and monitored TC4. What's important here was to find out if the telescopes involved could not only sense the asteroid, but also communicate their collected findings - visual, infrared and radar - with each other.

The aim is to develop a network that will be collect the data needed to compute the orbit of hazardous near-Earth objects in order to have enough warning time to prepare, preferably to deflect the object.

Thanks, Mona!