Space
Asteroid '2011 AG5' to Miss Earth in 2040, NASA Confirms
Staff Reporter
First Posted: Dec 26, 2012 04:06 PM EST
Good news is all around this past week. Firstly, the world did not come to a shattering end on December 21 as some said an ancient Mayan calendar predicted, and secondly, NASA said that Asteroid 2011 AG5 is likely to miss Earth in 2040.
NASA has downgraded the potential threat of Asteroid 2011 AG5, a near-Earth asteroid with a diameter of 460 feet or 140 meters. New observations by astronomers have found that 2011 AG5 no longer poses a significant risk of impact with Earth.
"An analysis of the new data conducted by NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, shows that the risk of collision in 2040 has been eliminated," NASA said in a statement.
NASA said asteroid 2011 AG5 will flyby Earth in 2040 at a distance of 553,000 miles. On that that path, it will be about twice the distance from the planet's moon.
The upper picture in the diagram below shows the uncertainty in the region of space the asteroid would pass in 2040, and Earth is in that region. The lower picture shows the new calculations, with the asteroid missing us entirely.
The new observations, made with the Gemini 8-meter telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, reduce the orbit uncertainties by more than a factor of 60. That means the Earth's position in February 2040 is not in range of the asteroid's possible future paths.
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
More on SCIENCEwr
First Posted: Dec 26, 2012 04:06 PM EST
Good news is all around this past week. Firstly, the world did not come to a shattering end on December 21 as some said an ancient Mayan calendar predicted, and secondly, NASA said that Asteroid 2011 AG5 is likely to miss Earth in 2040.
NASA has downgraded the potential threat of Asteroid 2011 AG5, a near-Earth asteroid with a diameter of 460 feet or 140 meters. New observations by astronomers have found that 2011 AG5 no longer poses a significant risk of impact with Earth.
"An analysis of the new data conducted by NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, shows that the risk of collision in 2040 has been eliminated," NASA said in a statement.
NASA said asteroid 2011 AG5 will flyby Earth in 2040 at a distance of 553,000 miles. On that that path, it will be about twice the distance from the planet's moon.
The upper picture in the diagram below shows the uncertainty in the region of space the asteroid would pass in 2040, and Earth is in that region. The lower picture shows the new calculations, with the asteroid missing us entirely.
The new observations, made with the Gemini 8-meter telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, reduce the orbit uncertainties by more than a factor of 60. That means the Earth's position in February 2040 is not in range of the asteroid's possible future paths.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone