Space Rock Close Fly By Today
Hey Space Placers! At 2:15 p.m. EDT today, 9/7/14, a 60-foot space rock (asteroid) named 2014 RC will make its closest approach to the Earth at a mere 25,000 miles. The space rock will safely pass below Earth and our geosynchronous satellites as can be seen in this NASA JPL graphic: NASA JPL GRAPHIC 2014 RC was discovered initially on August 31 by the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson AZ, and independently detected the next night by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope, located on the summit of Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii. Astronomers will study 2014 RC as it passes by to add to our knowledge of these roamers of the solar system. The orbit of the asteroid will also be refined so that it can be monitored for any future potential threat to Earth. 2014 RC will be visible to observers with telescopes in the Southern Hemisphere so we should get some pictures of this cosmic interloper. This asteroid is about the same size as the asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia on 2/15/1...