Could an asteroid the size of the Statue of Liberty sail by the Earth closer than the moon and you not even notice it? Apparently so.
At its closest point, the asteroid – called 2010 WC9 – will be roughly 126,000 miles from earth, about half the distance between Earth and the moon at approximately 6:05 ET, according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).
The estimated diameter of the asteroid ranges from 197 to 427 feet, making this “pass one of the closest approaches ever observed of an asteroid of this size,” EarthSky reports. – Fox News
‘Lost’ asteroid to pass closely May 15:https://t.co/GReylBTMIr
Asteroid 2010 WC9 will pass at about half the moon’s distance, in one of the closest approaches ever observed of an asteroid of this size.
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— EarthSky (@earthskyscience) May 12, 2018
Featured image via Pixabay public domain