Giant Asteroid to Pass Between Earth and Moon

An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier will come closer to Earth this autumn (Nov 8/11) than our own moon does, causing scientists to hold their breath as it zooms by.

http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=15288

Beam me up Scotty!!!

I wouldn't be surprised if it crashes into the Earth's surface. There's been a lot of space junk falling out of the sky lately!

You'd better hope it doesn't. From what I've read, it would be cataclysmic to Earth. Oh well, maybe it's time to mop up this mess.

So far, so good...Nothing horrible happened today...I'd bet it will be the same on predicted doomsday in 2012...

I wonder if anything fell into Julie's backyard?

It would be great if it landed in Washington DC. That's the area that needs to be cleaned up. Let's start from scratch.

Passing asteroid puts on a show

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch a six-frame video showing the spin of asteroid 2005 YU55 on Nov. 7 as it closed in for an encounter with Earth. The radar imagery was produced by NASA's Goldstone radio telescope.

By Alan Boyle

Astronomers watched the asteroid 2005 YU55 spin as it zoomed harmlessly past Earth, and everybody else was looking over their shoulders. You can expect to see a huge pile of pictures now that the coal-dark space rock has passed by.

snipped:

Neither the moon nor Earth was at risk during this flyby, but the information gathered this time around could help astronomers know what they're dealing with during potentially riskier encounters.

snipped:

In a Twitter update, NASA said that YU55 will make its next Earth flyby in 2015, "but at a greater distance than today." Today's encounter wasn't close enough to perturb the near-Earth asteroid's orbit, but experts are wondering whether a close flyby of Venus in 2029 will change its orbital path slightly.

Even if that Venus encounter does cause a change, Earth is in no danger from this particular space rock, at least for the next 100 years or so. Which is a good thing. If an object the size of YU55 were to hit land, experts say it would blast a 4-mile-wide, 1,700-foot-deep crater and set off a 7.0 earthquake. If it hit at sea, it would create a catastrophic tsunami with 70-foot-high waves.

Read more & see another video:

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/08/8704993-passing-asteroid-puts-on-a-show?gt1=43001