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Japan Meteorological Agency
Washington - An asteroid about the size of a bus shaved by Earth on Friday in what spacewatchers described as a “near-miss,” though experts were not concerned about the possibility of an impact.
The asteroid, named 2012 BX34, measured between six and 19 meters in diameter (20 to 62 feet), said Gareth Williams, associate director of the US-based Minor Planet Center which tracks space objects.
The asteroid, which had been unknown before it popped into view from a telescope in Arizona on Wednesday, came within about 60,000 kilometers (37,000 miles) of Earth on Friday at about 1500 GMT, he said.
“It's a near miss. It makes the top 20 list of closest approaches ever observed,” Williams told AFP.
NASA had announced on Twitter on Thursday that the asteroid would “safely pass Earth on January 27.”
Williams explained that since the asteroid was so small, it could only be detected when it was close to the Earth, but that the fly-by, while a surprise, was not terribly uncommon.
“This came about a sixth of the distance from the Moon,” he said. “In the past year we have had some 30 objects that were observed to come within the orbit of the Moon.” - Sapa-AFP
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jb, wrote
amazing, it just shaved by the earth while 60 000 kilometres away, that was close!!! aren't we lucky!!
Meme-Man, wrote
Or, Margaret, perhaps... juuuuuust perhaps... it's a rock - the remnant of an exploded solar system from billions of years ago, just flying through expanding space according Newton's laws of motion - with no remote control by a sky fairy.
@Margaret, wrote
If he knows what he is doing, then it is not a near miss, right? It was planned,or perhaps a show-off?
Meme-Man, wrote
Margaret@8.48am - If your god's got everything under control and made the rock miss us, how come he doesn't just hoover up his mess in the first place rather than play 'dogems' with us? Guess he was vas-aan-die slaap in 1908 at Tungeska. Guess the dinosaurs aren't too happy about his work ethic on their watch.
Anonymous, wrote
Anonymous, wrote
@Rick - It is same as saying boxing ring , which is a rectangle.Another one , the four corners of the world , when the world is actually round.
Lennon, wrote
@Rick: You're right. It is a near-hit. To quote George Carlin: "A collision is a near-miss. Look! They nearly missed."
Anthony, wrote
Rick, it's 'near miss' meaning 'nearly hit'. I understand why it's confusing though. That's the English language for you ;-)
Anonymous, wrote
Somph, wrote
I guess a near-miss means a miss by a narrow margin. Otherwise it would just be a miss, or possibly a wide miss
Margaret, wrote
So we live to fight another day - thank God HE knows what He's doing. Our times are in His hands.
Meme-Man, wrote
Rick @9.29pm - I'm a confused by your statement that if something nearly hits you, it's not a near miss but a near hit. Surely a 'hit' only occurs when contact is made - a miss occurs when a hit doesn't occur; and the 'near' simply describes how close to a 'hit' it was. If it just touched earth or our atmosphere we might say "a glancing blow".
Melissa, wrote
Sensationalism. Not worth mentioning really but the Americans feed their paranoia with any remotely perceivable threat. The BIG BOYS can now build some BIG TOYS so they can go out and shoot down something in space ... pathetic!
Anonymous, wrote
I think one is supposed to read "near miss" as two separate words rather than one - as if it was both near yet a miss.
Rick, wrote
Near-miss? Isnt a near miss a hit?! Should it not be a near-hit rather?! Just saying...I've always grappled with this saying
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