Asteroid Passes Within 230,000 km

Orbital diagram for asteroid 2012 EG5 on April 1, 2012 (Credits: NASA/JPL).

On April 1, asteroid 2012 EG5 passed within 230,000 km of Earth, closer than the Moon. The asteroid is 46 meters wide and according to the NASA Asteroid Watch program posed no danger to Earth.

The asteroid was first spotted on March 13 and was assigned a condition 9 rating meaning that its trajectory was erratic and difficult to predict. By the time of closest approach on April 1, it had been downgraded to a condition 5.

2012 EG5 followed close on the heels of two smaller asteroids, 2012 FP35 and 2012 FS35, that came within 154,000 and 58,000 km of Earth respectively. Even though these asteroids passed very close to Earth, they would not have survived atmospheric entry even if they had passed near enough to impact the planet.

Yet another asteroid is predicted to make a near Earth pass on April 4 when 2012 FA57 passes just beyond the Moon’s orbit of 382,900 km. 2012 FA57 is currently assigned a condition 8 rating by Asteroid Watch.

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Merryl Azriel

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Having wandered into professional writing and editing after a decade in engineering, science, and management, Merryl now enjoys reintegrating the dichotomy by bringing space technology and policy within reach of an interested public. After three years as Space Safety Magazine’s Managing Editor, Merryl semi-retired to Visiting Contributor and manager of the campaign to bring the International Space Station collaboration to the attention of the Nobel Peace Prize committee. She keeps her pencil sharp as Proposal Manager for U.S. government contractor CSRA.

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