Asteroid QG42 Whizzes By Earth Tonight; How To Watch

Shane   |  September 13 2012 4:46 EDT

ForexTV.com (New York) by Shane Meyer

The potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) 2012 QG42 will pass by the Earth this afternoon and tonight. The 275 meter large rock will speed by our planet at a speed of 7 miles per second at a distance of about 1.5 million miles away.  It will not be visible to the naked eye, but may be watched through the telescopes of the Canary Island Observatory (begins at 7 PM) or the Virtual Telescope Project (begins at 6 PM).

QG42 snuck up on astronomers, as it evaded discovery until about a month ago.

"Near Earth Objects have been whizzing past us lately, undetected until they have been practically on top of us. This illustrates the need for continued and improved monitoring for our own future safety," Bob Berman, a Slooh editor and Astronomy Magazine columnist, said in a statement. "It is not a question of if, but whensuch an object will hit us, and how large and fast it may be going."

“Remember, the last to strike us blew up in our atmosphere a mere century ago, on June 30, 1908, over Siberia, and did the kind of damage that could have killed 40 million people if it occurred in today’s world in a densely populated area,” Berman added. “So to observe them — as we will do live on Thursday evening — provides instruction and perhaps motivation to keep up our guard, as well as a sense of relief as it speeds safely past at a mere one fifteenth the distance to the nearest planets.”

Berman will join Slooh president Patrick Paolucci and Slooh engineer Paul Cox to provide commentary during the organization's webcast.

Forex research by ForexTV.com