Tuesday, March 03, 2009

phewwwwwww...that was close

An asteroid which may be as big as a ten-storey building has passed close by the Earth, astronomers say

Missed by just 72,000 km (44,750 miles); a fifth of the distance between our planet and the Moon , and only twice the altitude of satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

Asteroids of this size crashing down on the Earth could potentially unleash a destructive power equivalent to about 10 to 15 megatonnes of TNT. This is about 1,000 times more powerful than the blast from the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

No comments: