December 24, 2001
Billions of years of cosmic evolution — the birth and death of stars, the slow coalescence of planets, the patient unfolding of life — all...
Asteroid 1998 WT24 Passes Near Earth
Birthday · December 24, 2001
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APOD published December 24, 2001. Credit: S. Gajdos & J. Toth (Comenius U. Bratislava), Modra Observatory. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Last week, an asteroid approached unusually close to the Earth. Passing well outside the orbit of our Moon, Asteroid 1998 WT24 posed no danger, but became bright enough to see with binoculars and to track with radar. Pictured above, the kilometer-sized asteroid was imaged crossing the sky on December 14, two days before closest approach. Every few years, an asteroid will actually pass inside the orbit of the Moon. Large impact features on the Earth are testaments to asteroids or comets that actually impacted the Earth in the distant past. Astronomers continue to discover, track, and study potentially hazardous asteroids with a goal of making planet Earth a safer place.
Image credit: S. Gajdos & J. Toth (Comenius U. Bratislava), Modra Observatory