14 DAY TRIAL // A near-Earth object that flew very close to our planet earlier this year will return in 2013. During its next visit, asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass closer to Earth than many of the satellites currently in orbit.
Astronomers discovered it only after the rock passed our planet this year. Experts immediately calculated its path, and determined that its next pass will take place on February 15, 2013, when the object will fly just 24,000 kilometers (about 15,000 miles) away from Earth.
“This is a safe distance, but it is still close enough to make the asteroid visible in normal binoculars,” explains NEO expert Detlef Koschny, from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Office.
In 2012, the 50-meter (164-foot) asteroid passed by Earth at a distance about seven times that separating us from the Moon.