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Astronomer: Near-Earth Asteroid Won't Be Visible From Georgia
If it were to hit earth, 2012 DA 14 would flatten an area about 750 miles in diameter, says David Dundee of Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville.
An asteroid Friday will pass Earth within the moon's orbit, flying lower than communications, weather and GPS satellites high above the planet, according to Space.com. While it will be the nearest to Earth an object of its size has ever passed, asteroid 2012 DA 14 won't be visible from Georgia, even with a telescope, because the action will happen during the daylight hours, said astronomer David Dundee, who analyzes images and data captured by NASA's fireball cameras at Tellus Science Museum in nearby Cartersville. "The distance is about 1/13th the distance to the moon," Dundee said, adding the asteroid will be the closest—17,200 miles from Earth—at 2:24 p.m. "2012 DA 14 is about 150 feet across and traveling at a speed of over 17,000 …
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