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Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies

Near-Earth asteroid flyby November 8th!

4 Nov 2011

This Tuesday, November 8th, asteroid 2005 YU55 will fly past the Earth, passing inside the Moon’s orbit along the way.  This 1300-foot (400-meter) asteroid was first discovered in 2005 using Arizona’s Steward Observatory Spacewatch Telescope.  As this will be the closest flyby of an object this large since 1976, and will not be repeated until 2028, scientists and observers around the world are preparing numerous analyses and detailed studies of the asteroid and its composition.  You can read more about the asteroid here, and read about where and how to observe it here!