Near-Earth Object to Fly By on Feb. 9

Asteroid 2018 CB will pass closely by Earth on Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, at a distance of about 39,000 miles. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (cropped)
Asteroid 2018 CB will pass closely by Earth on Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, at a distance of about 39,000 miles. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (cropped)

Two Small Asteroids Safely Pass Earth This Week

Two small asteroids recently discovered by astronomers at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) near Tucson, Arizona, are safely passing by Earth within one lunar distance this week. Both asteroids were discovered by CSS on February 4, 2018.

One already passed earth: The first of this week’s close-approaching asteroids is designated asteroid 2018 CC. Its close approach to Earth came Tuesday (February 6) at 3:10pm (EST) at a distance of about 114,000 miles (184,000 kilometers). The asteroid is estimated to be between 50 and 100 feet in size.

Second will pass on Friday: Of potentially greater interest is asteroid 2018 CB, which will also pass closely by Earth on Friday (February 9), at around 5:30pm (EST), at a distance of about 39,000 miles (64,000 kilometers), which is less than one-fifth the distance of Earth to the Moon). The asteroid is estimated to be between 50 and 130 feet in size.

Said Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California:

“Although 2018 CB is quite small, it might well be larger than the asteroid that entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, almost exactly five years ago, in 2013. Asteroids of this size do not often approach this close to our planet — maybe only once or twice a year.”

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) hosts the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies for NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program, an element of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office within the agency’s Science Mission Directorate.

More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects may be found at cneos.jpl.nasa.gov and www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch.

For more information about NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, visit www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense.

For asteroid and comet news and updates, follow AsteroidWatch on Twitter.

 

Source: DC Agle, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

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