Close Shave On Monday [Close Approach By A Small Asteroid]

[6Foot2]

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/2011md_ca3.gif

 

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/2011md_ca4.gif

Link: Bend it Like Beckham! Small Asteroid to Whip Past Earth on June 27, 2011

Near-Earth asteroid 2011 MD will pass only 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) above the Earth's surface on Monday June 27 at about 9:30 EDT. The asteroid was discovered by the LINEAR near-Earth object discovery team observing from Socorro, New Mexico. The diagram on the left shows the trajectory of 2011 MD projected onto the Earth's orbital plane over a four-day interval. The diagram on the left gives another view from the general direction of the Sun that indicates that 2011 MD will reach its closest Earth approach point in extreme southern latitudes (in fact over the southern Atlantic Ocean). This small asteroid, only 5-20 meters in diameter, is in a very Earth-like orbit about the Sun, but an orbital analysis indicates there is no chance it will actually strike Earth on Monday. The incoming trajectory leg passes several thousand kilometers outside the geosynchronous ring of satellites and the outgoing leg passes well inside the ring. One would expect an object of this size to come this close to Earth about every 6 years on average. For a brief time, it will be bright enough to be seen even with a modest-sized telescope.

 

Link 2: A/CC Daily Sky View: Earth's Busy Neighbourhood

[ihaveaproblem]

What sort of damage would this do if it hit earth? ( 5-20 meters in size seems very small ) I know it depends where it, but just curious

[sted]

now.

 

Asteroids about a meter in diameter are thought to enter the Earth's atmosphere about once every month, leaving 100 ft (30 m) craters in their wake. Asteroids a kilometer in diameter impact only once every million years or so, releasing as much as 100 gigatons of TNT, 200 times stronger than the most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested. Such an impact would shatter glass windows as far as 500 km away, leaving a 20 km (12 mi) crater. The largest asteroid impact in the last 4 billion years is thought to be the asteroid which created the Vredefort crater in South Africa, with a diameter of about 20 km (12 mi).

[CAM]

Will it be that big a threat? Not only do we adapt, but the dinosaurs didn't have science.

[6Foot2]

Will it be that big a threat?...

 

It will be no threat at all. While it will pass close [within one Earth diameter: VERY close in astronomical terms] it will not impact with Earth. If you have a telescope you may even see it.