A tiny little asteroid came incredibly close to Earth last week

It won’t visit again for a very long time.
By | Published: March 6, 2017 | Last updated on May 18, 2023
2017ea
D. Farnocchia/NASA/JPL

Researchers at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spotted a small asteroid as it came very close to Earth last Thursday.

Asteroid 2017 EA, which is smaller than 10 feet (3 meters) across passed within 9,000 miles (14,5000 kilometers) of Earth on the morning of March 2. That distance is closer than several communication and weather satellites and about one-twentieth the distance of Earth to our Moon.

Sadly, according to a statement from NASA’s Center of Near-Earth Object Studies (CNES), 2017 EA won’t be back for at least another 100 years.

Source: Space.com