Near-Miss Asteroid Likely Was Not Visible From Carroll County
Scientists expected the asteroid to come very close to the Earth - about 17,200 miles away, or only 1/13th the distance to the moon.
This afternoon, an asteroid was expected to pass Earth within the moon's orbit, flying lower than communications, weather and GPS satellites high above the planet, according to Space.com. While it was the nearest to Earth an object of its size has ever passed, asteroid 2012 DA 14 would barely be visible from Maryland, even with a telescope, said McDaniel College Physicist Jeff Marx. According to Marx, the meteor that hit Russia early this morning injuring more than 500 people, was not related to 2012 DA 14, which scientists have been tracking for a year. "Amazingly, they came from two different parts of the sky, so they were unrelated," Marx said. "To me this highlights the need for a well-funded project to discover and monitor potential …
