Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The asteroid had a close approach to the Earth on 29 May 2012, approaching to only ~8950 miles (~14,440 km) above the planet's surface. This means 2012 KT 42 came inside the Clarke Belt of geosynchronous satellites. In May 2012, the estimated 5- to 10-metre-wide asteroid ranked #6 on the top 20 list of closest-approaches to Earth.
The asteroid and comet belts orbit the Sun from the inner rocky planets into outer parts of the Solar System, interstellar space. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] An astronomical unit , or AU, is the distance from Earth to the Sun, which is approximately 150 billion meters (93 million miles). [ 19 ]
A list of known near-Earth asteroid close approaches less than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00257 AU) from Earth in 2012. [note 1] Rows highlighted red indicate objects which were not discovered until after closest approach Rows highlighted yellow indicate objects discovered less than 24 hours before closest approach
The average near-Earth asteroid, such as 2019 VF 5, passes Earth at 18 km/s. The average short-period comet passes Earth at 30 km/s, and the average long-period comet passes Earth at 53 km/s. [10] A retrograde parabolic Oort cloud comet (e=1, i=180°) could pass Earth at 72 km/s when 1 AU from the Sun.
Goldstone radar images of asteroid 99942 Apophis on 8–10 March 2021 Goldstone radar images of asteroid 2001 FO 32 during closest approach on 21 March 2021. Below is an example list of near-Earth asteroids that passed or will pass more than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00256 AU) from Earth in 2021.
This asteroid belt is also called the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System. [ 1 ] The asteroid belt is the smallest and innermost known circumstellar disc in the Solar System.
[5] 27P/Crommelin was last observed in January 2012 and passed 1.5 AU from Saturn on July 11, 2015. [6] The next perihelion will be on May 27, 2039. [1] [3] Near perihelion the comet will be 0.74 AU from the Sun and 1.73 AU from Earth. [3] This is about as far from Earth as the comet can get during perihelion.
During the 2012 close approach, the asteroid only had an observation arc of 7 days, between 4 and 11 October 2012, so the exact distance of the 2017 closest approach was poorly constrained. With the 7 day observation arc, the asteroid had a 3-sigma chance of passing between 0.00008818 and 0.002896 AU (0.034 to 1.127 LD , 13,200–433,200 km ...