HoodaThunk?

On July 3rd a chunk of rock a half-mile wide will pass by the Earth at a distance just past the Moon’s orbit. In celestial terms, that’s like someone shooting a bullet at you and missing, but coming close enough to put a hole in your jacket. It could’ve been worse:

Although initially there were concerns that this asteroid might possibly impact Earth later this century and thus merit special monitoring, further analysis of its orbit has since ruled out any such collision, at least in the foreseeable future.

I remember the ballyhoo this discovery caused back in December 2004. For those of us looking ahead, here’s another interesting tidbit:

The latest calculations show that 2004 XP14 will pass closest to Earth at 04:25 Universal Time on July 3 (12:25 a.m. EDT, or 9:25 p.m. PDT on July 2).

The asteroid’s distance from Earth at that moment will be 268,624 miles (432,308 km), or just 1.1 times the Moon’s average distance from Earth.

Spotting 2004 XP14 will be a challenge, best accomplished by seasoned observers with moderate-sized telescopes.

On April 13, 2029, observers in Asia and North Africa will have a chance to see another asteroid, but without needing a telescope.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis, about 1,000 feet (300 meters) wide, is expected to be visible to the naked eye as it passes within 20,000 miles (32,000 km), inside the orbits of geosynchronous communications satellites.

I’m thinking that we need to reassess the priority of working up a viable anti-asteroid defense grid real soon, hmmm?