Current event 8

Large asteroid makes rare fly-by of Earth

Author: Roger Highfield

Source: The Telegraph

URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8878334/Large-asteroid-makes-rare-fly-by-of-Earth.html

Date Article Written: 09 Nov 2011

A spherical shaped asteroid whose diameter is around 400 m passed by some 560 kilometers southwest of Guatemala City  on Nov.09^th 2011 7:58 AM GMT ( Greenwich  Mean Time ).  Although, most of the people weren’t aware that it was the closest fly by to our planet in the passed 200 years, many astronomers were well prepared.  It was possible to see gray colored “space rock” only with a very good telescope.   NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration )  with its sophisticated technology even made radar  photos of this asteroid. It was discovered in 2005 by Mr. Robert Mc Millan, the member of a solar system scanning group of scientists near Tucson, Arizona. The name of asteroid is 2005 YU 55.  This asteroid is one of potentially dangerous because it's orbit crosses the Earth’s orbit from time to time. Theoretically, it could hit the Earth once, but scientific analyses shows that it won’t be possible in the near future. Next close “meeting” with this asteroid will be in 2094. There is the hypothesis that the origin of carbon and many other elements on our planet is from very  similar asteroids that crashed on the  Earh’s surface  millions years before.                                                                                                  

Asteroid 2005 YU55 Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/PA

               

This article is strongly connected with Astronomy, a very important part of the science. It offers a reasonable explanation about the link of the Earths resources with asteroids. I am amazed with the achievements of the present Astronomy and the possibillities to follow and accurately predict most of the events in the Solar system.  I am just wondering what would be happen in case of possible asteroid hitting. Is it possible to destroy such an asteroid before it crashes on the Earth's surface with today's technology?