'Potentially Hazardous' Asteroid on Its Way as 100ft 2014 DX110 Just Passed Earth
A 'potentially hazardous' asteroid named 2014 CU13 will reach a minimum distance from the Earth of about 3 millions km on 11 March 2014 at 09:01 UT, according to the The Virtual Telescope Project.
This new update from the website comes close to the heels of the massive asteroid reportedly around the size of three double decker buses passing by the Earth last night. It was traveling at 33,000 mph.
At 21:07 GMT (16:07 EST), the asteroid reached a distance of less than 217,000 miles (350,000 km), or nine-tenths of the distance between the moon and Earth, according to a Daily Mail report.
The 98ft (30 metre) asteroid offered spectacular views for anyone with a good telescope.
The Virtual Telescope Project and Slooh set up a live online event sharing real-time images of the asteroid, named 2014 DX110. Watch the video below:
'On a practical level, a previously-unknown, undiscovered asteroid seems to hit our planet and cause damage or injury once a century or so, as we witnessed on June 20, 1908 and February 15, 2013,' Slooh astronomer Bob Berman said in a statement.
'Every few centuries, an even more massive asteroid strikes us — fortunately usually impacting in an ocean or wasteland such an Antarctica.
'But the on-going threat, and the fact that biosphere-altering events remain a real if small annual possibility, suggests that discovering and tracking all near Earth objects, as well as setting up contingency plans for deflecting them on short notice should the need arise, would be a wise use of resources.'
It follows huge popularity of asteroid 2000 EM26 last month, with thousands of people stayed up into the early hours in the hope of catching a glimpse of a monster asteroid.
The 2014 CU13 however, does not pose any threat. "This is a very safe distance, so no risks at all for our planet. It will be a nice opportunity to spy this 180 meters large asteroid moving across the stars," states the Virtual Telescope Project Website.
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