If we thought last month’s QE2 asteroid passed close by, the rock that rocketed passed us on June 8 was really close, four times closer than the moon. Observed for the very first time only one day prior to its perigee, it was named Asteroid 2013 LR6. The object, as wide as a football field, flew closer than 65,000 miles to the earth. It sped across the sky above Tasmania’s Southern Ocean at approximately 12:42 a.m. EDT on June 8, 2013.
The new near-earth visitor was slightly smaller than the asteroid that burned up in the atmosphere above Russia this past February. Considered no threat to harm the earth, LR6 was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey, an Arizona-based, NASA-sponsored telescopic survey.
Since its sighting, this new asteroid sped by the earth too quickly for the same radar array that is still tracking QE2 to focus on. The Goldstone radar telescope continues to observe and record surface details and the amazing discovery of a smaller asteroid in orbit around QE2, an asteroid with its own moon. This observation has been possible due to the much larger size of the object originally found in 1998.
Read more http://www.sdentertainer.com/news/newly-discovered-asteroid-streaks-by-almost-close-enough-to-touch/
The new near-earth visitor was slightly smaller than the asteroid that burned up in the atmosphere above Russia this past February. Considered no threat to harm the earth, LR6 was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey, an Arizona-based, NASA-sponsored telescopic survey.
Since its sighting, this new asteroid sped by the earth too quickly for the same radar array that is still tracking QE2 to focus on. The Goldstone radar telescope continues to observe and record surface details and the amazing discovery of a smaller asteroid in orbit around QE2, an asteroid with its own moon. This observation has been possible due to the much larger size of the object originally found in 1998.
Read more http://www.sdentertainer.com/news/newly-discovered-asteroid-streaks-by-almost-close-enough-to-touch/