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Huge asteroid harmlessly passes by Earth
A giant asteroid about 700 metres wide flew past Earth early Friday, Daily Mail reported.
London: A giant asteroid about 700 metres wide flew past Earth early Friday, Daily Mail reported.
The chunk of space rock - dubbed 2012 LZ1 - passed Earth at 2 a.m. GMT. It was 3.35 million miles away, roughly 14 times the distance between Earth and the moon. While there was no danger of a collision, it was still close enough to be filmed.
But as it was less than 4.65 million miles away and more than 150 metres wide, the asteroid was still classified as potentially hazardous, the Mail added.
It was spotted four days ago by astronomer Rob McNaught when he was looking through the Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Scientists have now been able to calculate its orbit and claim it will again pass through Earth`s orbit in 2016.
IANS
The chunk of space rock - dubbed 2012 LZ1 - passed Earth at 2 a.m. GMT. It was 3.35 million miles away, roughly 14 times the distance between Earth and the moon. While there was no danger of a collision, it was still close enough to be filmed.
But as it was less than 4.65 million miles away and more than 150 metres wide, the asteroid was still classified as potentially hazardous, the Mail added.
It was spotted four days ago by astronomer Rob McNaught when he was looking through the Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Scientists have now been able to calculate its orbit and claim it will again pass through Earth`s orbit in 2016.
IANS