Advertisement

PSA: Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass the Earth at 2:00pm ET

Daniel Cooper
Senior Editor
Updated ·3 min read
0

If you fancy getting cosy with an asteroid that's got the destructive power of a nuclear arsenal, today's your lucky day. The wittily-named 2012 DA14 will sail past Australia at a distance of 17,510 miles early this afternoon, and while it won't be visible with the naked eye, NASA's got a few telescopes that'll do the job. It'll come into range at around 2:00pm ET, and is expected to be at its brightest about 25 minutes afterward. If your boss is sympathetic and you don't wanna miss a thing, head on past the break to catch the livestream, which started at 12:00pm ET. As for us? We're gonna spend the next few hours looking for Bruce Willis' phone number.

NASA TV Live stream

Marshall Flight Center

Show full PR text

NASA to Chronicle Close Earth Flyby of Asteroid

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA Television will provide commentary starting at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST) on Friday, Feb. 15, during the close, but safe, flyby of a small near-Earth asteroid named 2012 DA14. NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. This flyby will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close.

The half-hour broadcast from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., will incorporate real-time animation to show the location of the asteroid in relation to Earth, along with live or near real-time views of the asteroid from observatories in Australia, weather permitting.

At the time of its closest approach to Earth at approximately 2:25 p.m. EST (11:25 a.m. PST/ 19:25 UTC), the asteroid will be about 17,150 miles (27,600 kilometers) above Earth's surface.

The commentary will be available via NASA TV and streamed live online at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

and

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

In addition to the commentary, near real-time imagery of the asteroid's flyby before and after closest approach, made available to NASA by astronomers in Australia and Europe, weather permitting, will be streamed beginning at about noon EST (9 a.m. PST) and continuing through the afternoon at the following website:

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

A Ustream feed of the flyby from a telescope at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will be streamed for three hours starting at 9 p.m. EST (8 p.m. CST). To view the feed and ask researchers questions about the flyby via Twitter, visit:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

The NASA Near Earth Objects (NEO) Program at the agency's headquarters in Washington, manages and funds the search, study, and monitoring of NEOs, or asteroids and comets, whose orbits periodically bring them close to the Earth. NASA's study of NEOs provides important clues to understanding the origin of our solar system. The objects also are a repository of natural resources and could become waystations for future exploration. In collaboration with other external organizations, one of the program's key goals is to search and hopefully mitigate potential NEO impacts on Earth. JPL conducts the NEO program's technical and scientific activities.

For more information, including graphics and animations showing the flyby of 2012 DA14, visit: