EARTH SURVIVES NEAR PASSAGE OF ASTEROID
Feb 16, 2013, 00:12 IST
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It was traveling at a fierce 17,450 mph, or about 5 miles per second.
The asteroid came within 17,200 miles of our planet's surface as it zoomed over Indonesia (where it was 2:25 a.m.).
It will continue to fly from south to north and be visible to skygazers in parts of Europe, Africa and Asia through binoculars or a telescope.
Astronomers at the Gingin Observatory, near the town of Perth, Australia had an incredible view of the moving asteroid, which was streamed live by NASA. A still picture below shows the asteroid as a tiny white fleck against the night sky.The asteroid poses no danger of collision and NASA scientist Don Yeomans confirmed in a live webscast that 2012 DA12 is not connected to the meteor blast that occurred over Russia Friday morning.
See the live blog below.
