October 12 near-Earth asteroid fly by

• October 12 near-Earth asteroid fly by

In the Thursday, October 12, asteroid, codenamed 2012 TC4 pass "pretty darn close" on Earth. In the summer of 2016, scientists estimated that a celestial body fly at a distance of about 6800 kilometers from the surface of our planet. Preliminary estimates by NASA researchers, the asteroid has a diameter of about 30 meters or less, the speed - 14 km per hour.

If an asteroid this size will enter Earth's atmosphere, the consequences will be more extensive than after the Chelyabinsk meteorite fall in February 2013, when about 1,500 people were injured and damaged buildings until 7000.

The path of the asteroid 2012 TC4.

A small near-Earth asteroid 2012 TC4 was opened October 4, 2012 the system telescope Pan-STARRS in Hawaii. But because of its orbit, scientists could not trace its path, and for five years the celestial body has disappeared from the zone of visibility of ground-based telescopes.

Recent estimates suggest that 2012 TC4 will fly past Earth at a distance of 433 200 to 8200 kilometers. The latter figure is not so encouraging, though, the assurances of scientists from NASA, the probability of collision with the Earth is very small.

Photo asteroid made telescope in 2012. Scientists plan to use such a close distance as an opportunity to gather valuable data on asteroids and test the system for the protection of the world to prepare for a real asteroid threat, if this happens.

Proximity Scheme 2012 TC4 with the Earth in scale. Land is marked in blue. The animation included a geosynchronous satellite and the Moon.

According to NASA the map 2012 TC4 will enter the space between the Earth and lunar orbit diagonally before to go back into space.

Michael Kelly (Michael Kelley), the head of antiasteroid protective NASA Systems, said: "Scientists are always appreciate the opportunity to know in advance when an asteroid as close to the Earth and flying past her at a safe distance, to have time to prepare for data collection and learn about celestial body as much as possible more".

Rolf Densing, head of the European Center for Space Operations, said it was "pretty darn close": "The most distant planet satellites are located at a distance of 36,000 kilometers. So we can say that the asteroid "miss" just a hair past the Earth. "