GIANT ROCK ALERT!

We've warned you and warned you about Giant Rocks From Space. Well, now you can see one for yourself. Asteroid 2007 TU24 is coming. It's due to pass the Earth tonight at 3:33 a.m. Eastern time, swinging to within 1.4 times the distance of the Moon, or about 334,000 miles.

2007 TU24 is on the small side for an asteroid, a mere 250 meters across. Nevertheless, you would not want to be nearby if it did manage to strike the Earth. You can see blurry radar images of it here. Or you can go to the asteroid's home page for some crackpot weirdness about electromagnetic storms and general catastrophes. When that palls, check out Phil Plait tearing the crackpots some new ones at his Bad Astronomy site.

Better yet, you can stay up late and watch it yourself. It will move through the Northern sky, passing through Perseus, Cameleopardis, and Ursa Major. Here's a map generated by JPL showing its position as seen from Philadelphia, and here's an online ephemeris generator to get more detailed position information.

You'll need a pretty good telescope to see it, though. 2007 TU24 is small and made of darkish stuff, so it's not going to be brighter than 10th magnitude. Anything with a lens 3 inches across or wider should be able to detect it. Don't forget to wear proper protective gear, though.

Comments

[Thom H.]

LOL. The "protective gear" link was funny.

If I live through it, I'll try to report back on any earthquakes, tsunamis, or electromagnetic anomalies that occur in my area. :-)
I had already watched Phil's video. He's great.

Eat well, stay fit, Die Anyway.

[Thom H.]

Oh what a terrible catastrophe. Earthquakes didn't happen, huge tides didn't wash away beachfront property, electrical storms didn't ignite raging forest fires, magnetic storms didn't fry all of my electronics and a massive stone bigger than the Sears Tower didn't smash into Earth causing death and destruction. Sigh... life goes on as usual... meaning I'm back at the office without even a single day off.