Asteroid Zips by Earth This Weekend

'Pitbull' won't hit us, though
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 6, 2014 10:36 AM CDT
Asteroid Zips by Earth This Weekend
This radar image provided by NASA shows a large asteroid named 2005 YU55 that harmlessly passed by Earth in November 2011.   (AP Photo/NASA)

Sky-watchers, take note: An asteroid is going to whiz by our planet this weekend. Asteroid 2014 RC, aka "Pitbull," will make its closest pass 25,000 miles over New Zealand about 2:15pm Eastern tomorrow, reports USA Today. Nobody will be able to see the 60-foot-wide rock with the naked eye, but Space.com notes that a free webcast featuring telescope views will be streamed live at Slooh.com beginning at 10 Eastern tonight. This one will miss us, "but it'd be great if we can use this sort of near-miss to rouse us from our species-wide slumber, and make asteroid detection more of a priority," writes Joseph Stromberg at Vox. (More asteroid stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X