I got this notice in email from NASA about a surprise asteroid that gave us only one day of warning passing halfway between the Earth and the moon. It was the largest known asteroid to ever pass that close to Earth in observational history.SURPRISE ASTEROID FLYBY: With little warning, on Sunday, April 15th,2018 GE3 was discovered just the day before as it plunged inward from the asteroid belt. A quick-thinking amateur astronomer in Europe was able to record a video of the asteroid as it flew by.With little warning, a relatively large asteroid flew through the Earth-Moon system on April 15th only 192,200 km (0.5 Lunar Distance) from our planet. 2018 GE3 was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey approaching Earth on April 14th. Hours later, amateur astronomer Michael Jäger of Weißenkirchen Austria video-recorded the space rock rushing through the southern constellation Serpens:According to Wikipedia , 2018 GE3 is the largest known asteroid to pass that close to Earth in observational history," says Jäger. "It was shining like a 13th magnitude star at the time of my observations."This puts it into the same class as the 60-meter Tunguska impactor that leveled a forest in Siberia in 1908. A more recent point of comparison is the Chelyabinsk meteor-a ~20-meter asteroid that exploded in the atmosphere over Russia on Feb. 15, 2013, shattering windows and toppling onlookers as a fireball brighter than the sun blossomed in the blue morning Ural sky. 2018 GE3 could be 5 to 6 times wider than that object.Based on an observational arc of only 1 day, 2018 GE3 appears to follow an elliptical orbit which stretches from the asteroid belt to deep inside the inner solar system. Every ~2.5 years the space rock crosses the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars - although not necessarily making close approaches to the planets themselves.NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has made an interactive orbit viewer available online here </s> The 360ft asteroid, named 2018 GE3, flew within 119,000 miles (192,000 km) of the planet with little warning over the weekend.

 

 Asteroid 2018 GE3 was observed by US-based astronomers The Catalina Sky Survey and Steward Observatory in the early hours of Saturday morning.

 

 Within the next 24 hours, the space rock flew perilously close to Earth, passing at around half the distance between the planet and the moon.

 

 2018 GE3 was one of the largest asteroids, whose measurements exceeded the length of a football pitch, to have ever flown that close to Earth.

The meteor was even bigger than the 50ft-wide asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, injuring hundreds.

 

 Only two near-Earth asteroids monitored were larger, one in 2001 and one in 2002, according to NASA records.

 

 SpaceX engineer Andrew Radar tweeted: “Asteroid 2018 GE3 flew past us today, half the distance to the Moon.

 

 “Around 50-100 m in diameter, it was several times the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, around the size of the 1908 Tunguska event – easily enough to destroy a city.

 

 “We had less than a day's warning.”

“We had less than a day's warning” To date, astronomers have spotted more than 8,000 near-Earth asteroids that are at least 140 meters wide – big enough to wipe out an entire US state.

 

 A near-Earth object (NEO) is anything that comes within about 30 million miles of our planet's orbit.

 

 One 1,500ft-wide asteroid named Bennu, the most dangerous asteroid on the planetary science watch list, is expected to closely approach Earth, but not impact it, in 2135. 

 

 If it were to strike Earth, the force of the collision would be equal to 80,000 uranium gun-type bombs – the kind of atomic bomb that was used on Hiroshima in August 1945 and killed an estimated 150,000 people.

 

 Congress tasked NASA with spotting 90% of all NEOs bigger than 460 feet by 2020. </s> An asteroid estimated to be at least 150 feet in diameter made an alarmingly close pass to Earth on Sunday morning just hours after it was first observed by astronomers.

The asteroid, named Asteroid 2018 GE3, was closest to Earth at around 2.41 a.m. ET on April 15 when it was spotted about 119,500 miles away, EarthSky.org reports. That’s closer than the moon, which orbits Earth at an average distance of 238,900 miles. GE3 also passed close to the moon later that morning on its journey around the sun.

According to EarthSky.org, Asteroid 2018 GE3 could be as much as six times bigger than the Chelyabinsk meteorite, which exploded over central Russia in 2013. When the rock hit the atmosphere it caused a bright flash, and thousands of fragments fell throughout the region of Chelyabinsk, breaking windows and injuring about 1,500 people. If GE3 had entered Earth’s atmosphere it could have caused similar, if not more severe, damage.

The asteroid was first observed by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey project, based at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab in Tucson, Arizona. </s> Asteroid 1981 ET3, also known as Florence, will skim past Earth on September 1 at a distance of seven million kilometres.

That is about 18 times the distance between the Earth and the moon and the closest this asteroid has been since 1890.

The next time such a space rock will fly this close is in 2050, according to Nasa.

At a staggering 4.8 kilometres wide – the largest that has ever been discovered since Nasa began tracking asteroids. </s> Image copyright NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR Image caption This composite of 30 images of asteroid 2014 JO25 was generated using Nasa's Goldstone Solar System Radar in California's Mojave Desert

A large asteroid the size of the Rock of Gibraltar has passed safely by Earth.

The object, measured to be almost a kilometre wide, came within five times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Known as 2014 JO25, the asteroid is the biggest such space rock to skim our world since 2004.

Astronomers say the best opportunity to view the rock will come in the dark hours of Wednesday night.

Radar imagery using Nasa's 70m (230 ft) antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California reveal a peanut-shaped asteroid that rotates about once every five hours.

The asteroid passed Earth at a distance of 1.8 million km (1.1 million miles) at 13:24 BST on Wednesday, 19 April.

The next known encounter of an asteroid of about this size will occur in 2027 when the 800m-wide (half-mile-wide) asteroid 1999 AN10 will fly by at one lunar distance, about 380,000 km (236,000 miles). </s> A massive asteroid is all set to fly extremely close to Earth today, at the speed of 14,092 miles per hour. And if the speed isn't shocking enough – the asteroid is as huge as the Empire State Building.

Dubbed as 2017 VR12, the asteroid is expected to pass within 900,000 miles of Earth around 7:53am (EST) on Wednesday. Its diameter is between 700ft and 1,500ft – making it bigger than the Empire State Building, which is 1,450ft tall.

NASA has labelled the VR12 a 'potentially hazardous asteroid' due to the close proximity with Earth. Typically, if asteroids come within 4,600,000 miles of Earth, the space agency labels them as hazardous.

This particular one is scheduled to make its trip past Earth on late Wednesday – at a distance of 897,000 miles – which is three times the distance between our planet and the moon.

However, NASA has also assured that there is no possibility for the 2017 VR12 to collide with Earth. If anything, the agency believes the asteroid could be a perfect target for future aerospace studies.

"This object is on the NHATS list of potential spacecraft mission targets, although no mission is actually planned for this object," the agency explained. "It should be a very strong radar target," they added.

Initially experts had estimated that the VR12 was about 470 metres wide, leading them to believe that the asteroid was the size of the Buckingham Palace. And while those estimates have been reduced, NASA is still classifying it as a 'medium sized rock.'

As NASA revealed, the 2017 VR12 was first discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii on November 10, 2017. It is also not supposed to come within Earth's range for another 177 years or so.

The live action of the asteroid zooming past Earth can be caught by people all over the world, via the Virtual Telescope project through a live webcast.

Stargazers can watch the asteroid using the 16-inch robotic telescope at the Tenagra Observatories in Arizona, which is a part of the Virtual Telescope Project and Tenagra Observatories. </s> An asteroid the size of a football field buzzed by Earth Sunday in one of the closest encounters the planet has seen in a while.

At its closest point, the asteroid – called 2018 GE3 – was just 119,500 miles away from Earth's atmosphere, about half the distance between Earth and the moon, according to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). The estimated diameter of the space rock ranged from 131 to 328 feet, CNEOS reports.

That's nothing compared to asteroids that make up the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which can measure to about 580 miles across, NASA explains on its website. Those asteroids, however, pose no threat to Earth.

The 2018 GE3 asteroid was discovered just one day before it skimmed past Earth in what scientists are calling a "surprise" flyby.

"2018 GE3 was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey approaching Earth on April 14th. Hours later, amateur astronomer Michael Jäger of Weißenkirchen Austria video-recorded the space rock gliding through the southern constellation Serpens," Spaceweather.com reported.

WHY NASA IS SENDING A SPACECRAFT TO A METAL ASTEROID CALLED 'PSYCHE'

The asteroid that flew by Earth Sunday was up to six times the size of the meteor that exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains in Chelyabinsk back in February 2013.

That meteor – estimated to be about 10 tons and 49 feet wide – entered the Earth's atmosphere at a hypersonic speed of at least 33,000 mph and shattered into pieces about 18-32 miles above the ground, injuring 1,100 people (mostly from flying glass), the Russian Academy of Sciences confirmed.

"It doesn’t take a very large object. A 10-meter size object already packs the same energy as a nuclear bomb," Andrew Cheng, who led a 2000-2001 mission for NASA to orbit and land on an asteroid, told Fox News at the time.

The April asteroid, however, traveling at a speed of about 66,000 miles per hour, would have likely broken down "due to friction with the air" as soon as it entered Earth's atmosphere, EarthSky reported.

MINING FOR ASTEROIDS WILL BE THE NEXT GOLD RUSH

"However, some of an asteroid this size might have gotten through to Earth’s surface, and an asteroid this big is capable of causing some regional damage, depending on various factors such as composition, speed, entry angle, and location of impact," the space website explains. "It might make you feel better (or worse) to know that asteroids enter Earth’s atmosphere unnoticed on a fairly regular basis."

NASA tracks asteroids that make close approaches to Earth, providing data on the distance and estimated diameter of each object. At least three other small space rocks are set to fly past Earth on Tuesday – with the largest measuring 111 feet around.

That's significantly smaller than the 2018 GE3 asteroid.

"A preliminary analysis of the orbit of 2018 GE shows this is the closest this particular space rock has come to Earth at least since 1930," EarthSky reports.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> A HUGE asteroid appeared without warning over the weekend, barely missing Earth.

According to EarthSky.org, the asteroid was spotted 192,500km away - a distance closer than the moon.

The asteroid, labelled Asteroid 2018 GE3, was closest to Earth around 2:41am ET on April 15 and was estimated to be up to 110 metres wide.

EarthSky.org said that 2018 GE3 could be as much as six times larger than the Chelyabinsk meteorite, which exploded in 2013 over central Russia.

When the extraterrestrial object hit the atmosphere it caused a bright flash, and thousands of rock fragments fell throughout the region of Chelyabinsk, causing damage to infrastructure and injuring approximately 1,500 people.

If the asteroid had entered the Earth's atmosphere, it is likely that much of the space rock would have disintegrated, however a mass this large could have caused similar, if not more severe, damage. </s> A monster asteroid the size of the Empire State Building is set to fly past Earth tomorrow at a dizzying speed of 14,092 miles per hour.

The asteroid, dubbed 2017 VR12, is expected to pass within 900,000 miles of Earth around 7:53am (EST) on Wednesday.

With a diameter between 700ft and 1,500ft, VR12 could be bigger than New York City's Empire State Building, which is 1,450ft tall.

VR12's close encounter to Earth has earned it the designation of a 'potentially hazardous asteroid' by NASA.

The space agency describes asteroids as 'hazardous' if they come within 4,600,000 miles of our planet.

Late Wednesday evening, VR12 will fly past earth at a distance of 897,000 miles.

That's three times distance between our planet and the moon.

However, NASA cautioned that there's no possibility that 2017 VR12 will collide with Earth.

In fact, the agency believes the asteroid could be a perfect target for future aerospace studies.

'This object is on the NHATS list of potential spacecraft mission targets, although no mission is actually planned for this object,' the agency explained.

'It should be a very strong radar target,' they added.

VR12 was previously estimated to be as much as 470 meters wide, causing experts to believe that it was bigger than Buckingham Palace.

Those estimates have since been reduced, but NASA is still classifying VR12 as a 'medium sized rock.'

According to NASA, 2017 VR12 was first discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii on Nov. 10, 2017.

It's not supposed to come within Earth's range for another 177 years or so.

Thanks to the virtual telescope project, people all over the world will be able to see the skyscraper-sized asteroid zoom past the earth using a live webcast.

Stargazers can watch the VR12 fly by the earth using the 16-inch robotic telescope at the Tenagra Observatories in Arizona as part of the Virtual Telescope Project and Tenagra Observatories.

VR12 is passing by just a few days after a bus-sized asteroid, 2018 DV1, came within 65,000 miles of our planet last week.

The DV1 has a diameter between 20 to 40 feet and flew past at a speed of 11,600mph.
An asteroid, 2018 GE3, sized between 37 and 138 metres (121 and 453 ft) passes 193,000 kilometres (120,000 mi) from Earth, possibly the largest known asteroid to ever pass that close in observational history.