E’ stato individuato grazie allo speciale sistema robotico "Master", realizzato presso l’Università Statale di Mosca. Rilevato un asteroide il cui diametro risulta tra 15 e 20 metri. Si tratta di un oggetto potenzialmente pericoloso per il nostro Pianeta in quanto si trova a soli 11.000 chilometri di distanza. A rivelarlo, è Vladimir Lipunov, della Lomonosov, la roccia spaziale ”si sta muovendo nella direzione della Terra’. Non vengono tuttavia forniti ulteriori dettagli, se non che le sue dimensioni sono simili a quello che cadde negli Urali nel mese di febbraio.
MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) – A 15-meter (approximately 50 feet) asteroid, similar to the one that exploded above Russia in February, was detected hours before it narrowly missed the Earth over the weekend, Russian scientists said.
Vladimir Lipunov of the Moscow State University and the Sternberg Astronomical Institute said on Sunday a network of telescopes operated by his team recorded a celestial body approaching the planet.
"[The asteroid] was discovered on Friday night by our station near Lake Baikal and nine hours later it flew within 11,300 kilometers of the Earth surface, below the orbit of geostationary satellites. It was about 15 meters in size,” he said.
The scientists originally thought that it could be a man-made object, such as a spent rocket booster, but rejected the idea when they couldn’t find a match in the space junk catalogue. Lipunov said his team had notified the International Astronomical Union of their discovery, but it is yet to be confirmed.
Vladimir Lipunov of the Moscow State University and the Sternberg Astronomical Institute said on Sunday a network of telescopes operated by his team recorded a celestial body approaching the planet.
"[The asteroid] was discovered on Friday night by our station near Lake Baikal and nine hours later it flew within 11,300 kilometers of the Earth surface, below the orbit of geostationary satellites. It was about 15 meters in size,” he said.
The scientists originally thought that it could be a man-made object, such as a spent rocket booster, but rejected the idea when they couldn’t find a match in the space junk catalogue. Lipunov said his team had notified the International Astronomical Union of their discovery, but it is yet to be confirmed.
