spacetoday.net: Asteroid skims past Earth

Posted: Tue, Aug 24, 2004, 11:20 AM ET (1520 GMT)
A small asteroid passed closer to Earth than any previously-observed body without striking the planet in March, scientists announced over the weekend. The asteroid, 2004 FU162, passed 6,500 kilometers, or just over one Earth radius, from the surface of the planet on March 31. The asteroid, observed for only 44 minutes a few hours before its closest approach by the LINEAR telescope in New Mexico, is estimated to be about five to ten meters across, and most likely would have burned up in the atmosphere had it been on an collision course. While the close flyby took place nearly five months ago, it was only recently reported in a Minor Planet Center circular to accommodate a scientist who had been working with the limited observational data and wished to report those results in a paper to be presented at an IAU meeting next week, according to the online publication Asteroid/Comet Connection.