Asteroid Florence will safely sweep past Earth on Sept. 1
Asteroid Florence, a large near-Earth asteroid, will pass safely by Earth on Sept. 1, 2017, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles, (7.0 million kilometers, or about 18 Earth-Moon distances). Florence is among the largest near-Earth asteroids that are several miles in size; measurements from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and NEOWISE mission indicate it’s about 2.7 miles (4.4 kilometers) in size.
This relatively close encounter provides an opportunity for scientists to study this asteroid up close. Florence is expected to be an excellent target for ground-based radar observations. Radar imaging is planned at NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar in California and at the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The resulting radar images will show the real size of Florence and also could reveal surface details as small as about 30 feet (10 meters).
Source & further reading:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/large-asteroid-to-safely-pass-earth-on-sept-1
#NASA #space #asteroidFlorence #universe #science
Entre huit et douze ans environ j'avais le béguin, comme l'on disait deux générations avant moi, pour l'une de multiples Florence de ma classe. Ce qui à son tour glisse au-delà de la pertinence tout comme sur son orbite glisse Florence l'astéroïde au-delà de la Terre;)
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