11 meters-wide asteroid passed very close to Earth on Friday

 

January 28, 2012

 

Tim O’Brien, associate director of Jodrell Bank Observatory reported that “As expected the asteroid passed by Earth this Friday. The space rock BX34 2012 is one of the twenty that most approached the planet since records are kept.”

O’Brien explained: “The asteroid was about 11 meters in diameter, the size of a bus, and was first detected last Wednesday. Around 16:00 hours GMT on Friday was the time when the asteroid was closer to our planet, at a distance of approximately 60,000 km, equivalent to less than one-fifth of the distance to the Moon.”

Gareth Williams, associate director of the Minor Planet Center in the United States said: “It is one of the closest approximations registered.”