1.1 Lunar Orbits away: Asteroid 2004 XP14 , seems a bit close to me though

I know, it will be far enough away, but still it seems close to me. Here is a link to place that I just got an email from, and another that shows a cool orbit simulation.
http://spaceweather.com/


Cool orbit simulation at http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db?name=2004+XP14

:kick:

the Earth and the Moon's orbit every year. Most are much smaller than this one though.

From August 10, 1972 it passed over Utah, Idaho, Montana and Alberta.



It skipped off the Earth's atmosphere and back into Solar orbit coming within 60 km over Montana. Size estimates range from 3 to 14 meters.

http://www.serve.com/wh6ef/comets/meteors/1972.html

get that close, or closer still.

The object had a very flat trajectory, skimming behind two of the peaks defining the local ski hill before disappearing over the horizon. Incredible sight.

This.

edit: It's an asteroid called Cruithne. It's referred to as Earth's "second moon".

or does it look even closer in late 2007?

'til we get hit again by something big enough to do some damage. Why worry, though? Nothing to do about it.

...that we COULD now do something about it if we prepared in advance.

...regarding Shoemaker-Levy: He describes us as "one particular planet whose inhabitants watched, with mild interest, huge continent-wrecking slabs of ice slap into another world which was, in astronomical terms, right next door -- and then did nothing about it because that sort of thing only happens in Outer Space."

to save probably a whole lot of lives? What species are you talking about again, here?

Monday, July 3, 2006; Posted: 9:17 a.m. EDT (13:17 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A huge asteroid whizzed by Earth early Monday, passing about 269,000 miles from the planet's surface -- slightly farther away than the moon.

More than three dozen asteroids have flown closer to Earth in the last few years, but scientists believe 2004 XP14 is among the largest.

The asteroid, discovered in 2004, is estimated to be as wide as a half-mile based on its brightness.

Late Sunday and early Monday, it was expected to be visible as a small moving dot to amateur sky watchers with good telescopes in North America and as a fainter object in Europe. Its closest approach was over the U.S. West Coast.

Scientists estimate 2004 XP14 will have 10 more close encounters with Earth over this century, none expected to pose a threat to the planet.
***
more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/07/03/asteroid.encounter.ap/index.html

And.... how far in advance did we know this was going to happen, and what's this thing's composition?

In other words, yes, there will be an effect but "they" have factored
in the change to the calculations when they say how close (or far) it
will be next time round.

The path observed is repeatedly compared to the path calculated and
corrections made. Now if only they remember to put the decimal point
in the right place (and keep their +/- fudges in order) then we have
no problems ... ummm ...

:evilgrin: