geekosystem

While you were sleeping, an asteroid that was just discovered two days ago made a close pass by Earth at 2:35 a.m. ET. How close? Within lunar orbit close. There was nothing to worry about, as it was clear this asteroid -- roughly the size of the object that recently exploded over Russia -- had no chance of hitting the Earth. Though it is a little unsettling that it was discovered with so little time before its near miss, the bright side is that we discovered it at all. Every asteroid, it seems, has a silver lining.

Well, by now you've probably seen and been equal parts terrified and mesmerized by the video of a meteor exploding in the skies over Russia, and if you haven't, take a couple of minutes and go do that right now, because seriously, it's incredible. When you're done, though, make sure you come back here to get an up close and personal look at 2012 DA14, a giant rock from space that so far as we can tell isn't going to explode in our atmosphere and blow out windows today, which is a nice change. Find out more about 2012 DA14 and watch NASA's live stream of the asteroid flyby  -- complete with commentary from NASA staff, who are full of all sorts of useful information about asteroids  -- right here starting at 2:00 pm EST.

Tomorrow the 143,000 ton asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass a mere 17,200 miles from the Earth. What does that mean for you? Nothing. There's no chance of DA14 hitting the Earth. We'll all be fine this time around, but hundreds of smaller objects strike the Earth every year. Our friends at Movoto have a handy calculator to get the odds that one will hit your house. Give it a try, and you'll probably feel a lot better about the whole thing.

A proposed mission by the European Space Agency seeks to send a pair of spacecraft out to a nearby asteroid to test the effects of smashing one of the crafts into the asteroid at 6.25 km/second. The primary goal is to see how well a possible method of asteroid deflection would work, but it won't do anything as spectacular as actually blowing up the asteroid. I guess they're saving that honor for Bruce Willis.

The asteroid Apophis, clearly named for the Stargate SG-1 villain, has been called a "doomsday asteroid," because in 2004 there was a study that said there was a 2.7% chance of Apophis hitting Earth when it flies past us in 2029. That study has since been disproved, but astronomers are keeping a close eye on Apophis anyhow, which is due for another pass in 2036. One telescope in Europe has captured new images of Apophis that reveal it's even larger than initially believed. That can't be good.

One of 2012's oddest and most interesting ideas in space exploration may be getting a renewed lease on life in 2013. According to New Scientist, NASA is "mulling over" a proposal by researchers at the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) to give the moon a moon of its own. The idea, which would see NASA snag an asteroid from deeper in space and tow it back to the moon, where it would take up orbit around the Earth's only natural satellite, has apparently made it far enough to be considered for funding in NASA's next round of budgeting, and all we can say is "Oh, my yes."

Many of us will be donning a fresh layer of  makeup and fake blood for this evening's many Halloween parties, but we're not the only ones in the solar system doing so. Vesta, which is either a giant asteroid or the beginnings of a planet that never quite made good on its potential, depending on who you ask, is continually updating its appearance. New data from NASA's Dawn mission shows that Vesta isn't affected by certain forms of cosmic weathering, and, in a way, manages to stay forever young, complicating efforts to gather information about the asteroid's history.

Our little blue dot will get something of a close shave today when the 400-meter-wide 2005 YU55 asteroid will pass us at a distance of no less than about 201,700 miles. For those of you playing along at home, this is about .85 the distance from the Earth to the Moon. According to NASA, this is the closest pass a comparably sized object has made to our planet in some 30 years and the closest 2005 YU55 has made in about 200 years. And before you ask: No, there is no chance that it will hit us.

Now in orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta, NASA's Dawn space probe has sent back this incredible image of the protoplanet's pockmarked surface. Though the probe has only just arrived and has yet to begin its lower science survey orbit some 1,700 miles above the surface of Vesta, its already sending back some amazing images. Of particular interest to scientists is the large impact crater on the southern end of Vesta. It's believed that a violent impact in the planetoid's distant past broke off several large chunks which still orbit nearby. Moreover, the cataclysm shot debris across the solar system, with chunks of Vesta apparently accounting for 5% of asteroids found on Earth. Since bits of Vesta have already been to Earth, it's only fair that a little bit of Earth takes a look at Vesta. (via Universe Today)

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(image via Reddit.)