Earth’s Close Encounter Comes Monday… Really

It could be as small as an SUV or the better part of a football field. Like Earth it’s orbiting the Sun.

There’s this rock. No one’s really sure how big it is. It could be as small as an SUV or the better part of a football field. Like Earth it’s orbiting the Sun. Monday it will be very close to us!

Near-Earth asteroid 2011 MD was found by the LINEAR project. Asteroids stick out against the field of stars because they move through the sky at a different rate. LINEAR photographs patches of the sky five times a night.

Nothing’s going to strike us. The asteroid will be about 7,500 miles away Monday at 9:30 AM. That’s still awful close.

Scientists at NASA/JPL’s Near-Earth Object Program Office says something like this happens every six years or so.