Here it comes! Scientists will be tracking an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier as it flies by Earth today.
Scientists working with NASA’s 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., have generated a short movie clip of asteroid 2005 YU55.
Asteroid 2005 YU55 observations have been just released from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. – and the imagery is stunning: “The animation reveals a number of puzzling structures on the surface that we don’t yet understand. To date, we’ve seen less than one half of the surface, so we expect more surprises,” said radar astronomer Lance Benner, the principal investigator for the 2005 YU55 observations at JPL.
The last time a space rock this big came as close to Earth was in 1976, although astronomers did not know about the flyby at the time.
Get your calendars out: The next known approach of an asteroid this large will be in 2028!
The short movie clip of asteroid 2005 YU55 can be found at:
By Leonard David