Published: March 19, 2004
PASADENA, Calif., March 18 --- An asteroid 100 feet in diameter passed close but harmlessly by Earth on Thursday, astronomers said. The asteroid, 2004 FH, passed about 26,500 miles above the southern Atlantic Ocean, said Steven Chesley, an astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was the closest recorded encounter between Earth and an asteroid. The asteroid was visible through binoculars from vantage points in the Southern Hemisphere, Asia and Europe, Mr. Chesley said.
Advertisement.
To see it's orbit, go here and enter in the date March 18, 2004 to see how close it got!
This event was quite a milestone for all parties involved. Objects of this size pass earth at this range on a fairly regular basis. This is the first time they have actually detected one in this catagory several days prior to its closest approach (it was first detected on March 16th, 2004).