What just passed near Earth has scientists talking
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- A small asteroid named 2026 FM3, about the size of a car (4 to 8 meters wide), passed safely near Earth on March 24-25, coming within 147,000 miles, closer than the moon's distance.
- Discovered just days before its flyby by a California telescope, scientists quickly tracked its path and confirmed it posed no impact risk to Earth.
- Traveling at over 11,000 miles per hour, the asteroid is considered non-dangerous due to its small size, likely burning up as a meteor if entering Earth's atmosphere.
- NASA monitors more than 41,000 near-Earth asteroids, with many small objects passing unnoticed; such events help improve detection and tracking systems.
- Experts emphasize the importance of studying close asteroid approaches for planetary defense to prepare for potential future threats from larger objects.
